Genesis 37 and 39 in the Early Syriac Tradition 9789004526969, 900452696X

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Genesis 37 and 39 in the Early Syriac Tradition

Monographs of the Peshitta Institute Amsterdam studies in the syriac versions of the bible and their cultural contexts

Editorial Board S.P. Brock S.H. Griffith K.D. Jenner A. van der Kooij T. Muraoka W.Th. van Peursen

Executive Editor R.B. ter Haar Romeny

volume 20

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/mpi

Genesis 37 and 39 in the Early Syriac Tradition By

Kristian S. Heal

leiden | boston

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill‑typeface. issn 0169-9008 isbn 978-90-04-52695-2 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-52696-9 (e-book) Copyright 2023 by Kristian S. Heal. Published by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Hotei, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau, V&R unipress and Wageningen Academic. Koninklijke Brill nv reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use. Requests for re-use and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill nv via brill.com or copyright.com. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

Contents Preface: Pursuing Joseph in the Syriac Tradition Acknowledgements xii Abbreviations xiv

ix

Introduction: Rewriting the Bible in the Early Syriac Tradition Prose Narratives 4 Narrative Poetry 5 Excursus: Epic Poetry 9 Verse Homily 11 Dialogue Poetry 17 Reading the Rewritten Bible 20 Reading Between the Gaps 20 Method and Assumptions 22 1 A Survey of the Sources 25 1 Peshitta Genesis 37–50 26 2 Aphrahat, Demonstrations 30 3 Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373), Commentary on Genesis 32 4 Syriac History of Joseph (cavt 113; S 1229) 36 5 History of Joseph the King (S 1631) 39 6 Balai, On Joseph (S 931) 40 7 Narsai, On Joseph (S 1748) 45 8 Jacob of Serugh (451–521), On Joseph (Ten Memre) 49 Extracts 49 9 Joseph Son of Jacob (S 1300, 1340) 58 10 Joseph and His Brothers in Three Meters (S 1587) 64 Extracts 64 11 Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah (S 1342) 65 12 Joseph Reveals His Identity to His Brethren 68 13 On Joseph when He was Revealed to His Brothers 70 14 Removal of Joseph’s Bones (S 932) 71 15 Removal of Joseph’s Bones 72 16 Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife 72 17 Joseph and His Mistress 73 18 Joseph Rejects His Mistress 74 19 Soghithā on Joseph and Benjamin 75 20 On Joseph and His Brothers 76

1

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21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

Joseph Reveals the Dream to His Father 77 Joseph in the Market Place 78 The Brothers in Egypt 78 On the Sons of Jacob in the Metre of Mor Jacob 79 On the Death of Jacob 79 Benjamin and the Cup 80 Joseph and Asenath (cavt 105; Syriac Version S 559) 80 Story of Asenath’s Origins (cavt 109) 81 Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph the Most Virtuous 81 Romanos (485–555), Kontakion on Joseph 85 Romanos (485–555), Kontakion on Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife Ps Romanos, Kontakion on Joseph 86 Ps Ephrem, Armenian Commentary on Genesis 87 Armenian Story of Joseph 87

86

2 Joseph as a Type of Christ 89 Early Syriac Lectionaries 90 Aphrahat 91 Joseph Son of Jacob 95 1 The Silent vs. the Articulate Lamb 103 2 The Dreams of Joseph 104 3 Who Cast Joseph into Prison? 104 4 Bread and the Living Bread 104 5 The Jews at the Second Coming 105 Balai 107 Narsai 109 Jacob of Serugh 113 Conclusions 121 3 Exemplarity and the Problem of Favouritism (Gen. 37:3–4) 122 The Problem of Favouritism (Gen. 37:3–4) 122 Omitting the Problem: Ephrem’s Commentary on Genesis 124 Omitting the Problem Again: Benjamin and Simeon 125 Rebekah, Providence, and Another Omission 126 Expanding the Problem: Balai 128 Addressing the Problem: Narsai 130 Preaching the Problem: Jacob of Serugh, Christ, and Harran 135 Conclusions 137

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4 Imagining Monstrosity (Gen. 37:5–28) 138 Enmity, or the Motive for Fratricide (Gen. 37:3–11) 140 Duplicity, or Why Joseph Was Sent to Shechem (Gen. 37:11–14) Brutality, or a Portrait of the Capture and Sale of Joseph (Gen. 37:17–28a) 149 Conclusions 158

144

5 Mother, Merchants, and the Market Place (Gen. 37:29–36) 160 Mother 160 Merchants 166 The Market Place 171 Conclusions 177 6 Making a Syriac Woman Sinful (Gen. 39) 179 The Temptress (Gen. 39:7) 180 The Adorned Woman: Syriac History of Joseph The Sinful Woman: Joseph Son of Jacob 183 Eve’s Daughter: Narsai 186 Conclusions 189

181

7 Scripting Seduction (Gen. 39:7–10) 191 Arguments Marshalled by Potiphar’s Wife (P1–12) 195 P1 A Mistress’s Right (Syriac History of Joseph, Jacob of Serugh) 195 P2 I am a Wanton Woman (Balai, Jacob of Serugh) 196 P3 Be My Lord and Husband (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Narsai) 197 P4 I Have an Unlimited Treasure (Narsai) 198 P5 Be a Free Man (Syriac History of Joseph) 198 P6 How Can You Not Want to Lie with Me (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob) 198 P7 Do Not Be Afraid (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Narsai) 199 P8 I Will Kill My Husband and Marry You (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Narsai) 199 P9 Mocks Lack of Sense (Syriac History of Joseph) 200 P10 Take Gold and Silver and Give Alms to the Poor (Syriac History of Joseph) 200 P11 No One is Here (Syriac History of Joseph) 200

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P12 Ultimatum (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Narsai) 200 Joseph’s Responses (J1–7) 201 J1 Propriety (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Balai, Jacob of Serugh) 201 J2 Fear of God and His Judgment (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Balai, Narsai, Jacob of Serugh) 202 J3 Religious Values (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Balai, Narsai) 203 J4 Respect for Jacob and the Ways of His Family (Syriac History of Joseph) 204 J5 Concern for Potiphar (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Balai, Jacob of Serugh) 204 J6 Warning Against Satan (Syriac History of Joseph) 204 J7 Trust in God (Syriac History of Joseph, Balai, Narsai) 205 Conclusions 205 8 Entrapment and Betrayal (Gen. 39:11–20) 207 Was Joseph Tempted to Yield? 211 Joseph in the Street (Gen. 39:12b) 213 The Accusation is Formed (Gen. 39:13–16) 217 The Trial and Sentence (Gen. 39:17–20) 219 Conclusions 223 Conclusion: Promise and Betrayal Bibliography 229 Index of Manuscript Citations 256 Index of Incipits 259 Index of Ancient Sources 261

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preface

Pursuing Joseph in the Syriac Tradition This is the first serious attempt in a century to examine the story of the Old Testament Patriarch Joseph in the early Syriac tradition.1 In this book, I begin the task by surveying the sources and analysing their treatment of Genesis 37 and 39.2 My focus on these two chapters acknowledges the division of the story in several of the sources. As I show in chapter 2, the story of Joseph was understood from the earliest recoverable period to be one of descent and ascent, foreshadowing the death and resurrection of Jesus. In fact, it is a story of a double descent, followed by an ascent: Joseph first descends from the favoured son to the status of slave, and then again from favoured slave to convict. It is from the depths of the prison that Joseph then begins an ascent that culminates in the fulfilment of his dreams and in his role as saviour of the house of Israel. This book explores the process and results of imagining and reimagining Joseph’s descent. In the Introduction, I provide an orientation to the kinds of sources used in this study. Scholarship on the Bible in the Syriac tradition has tended to focus on major theological works and the commentary tradition.3 But other, and more pervasive, modes of engaging with the Bible involved imaginatively rewriting biblical narratives or preaching them in verse homilies. I focus first on the genres in which the Bible was rewritten in the early Syriac tradition, teasing out some of the distinctive features of each genre. This is the first attempt to systematically consider the genres in which the story of Joseph was retold in the early Syriac tradition. I then look at how these genres can be read, describing in the process the approach that I have taken and the critical idiom that I use in reading and analysing these sources. This study is based on extensive manuscript research. This research has not only uncovered several new Joseph sources, but also identified additional manuscript witnesses to known sources. In chapter 1, I present a new systematic survey of the Syriac Joseph sources based on this research, describing each source, its genre, authorship, and dating, contents, and dis-

1 Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte was published in 1923. The Syriac Joseph tradition, though by far the richest in the patristic era, is often overlooked in the history of exegesis, as can be seen by two recent examples: Gregg, Shared Stories; and Förster, ‘Joseph (Son of Jacob)’. 2 In a forthcoming volume, I will treat Genesis 40–46 in the Syriac tradition. 3 As exemplified by Van Rompay, ‘Christian Syriac Tradition’.

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tinctive features. This survey is a meaningful first step in the task of reassessing the Syriac Joseph tradition. Whereas I try to grasp the essence of each source in the first chapter, the remainder of the book is thematic, based on a close reading of how the sources construe Genesis 37 and 39. I aim to draw attention to those aspects of the sources that expose the processes, causes, and effects of the creation and recreation of the tradition. These elements will often be seen in the ways a source reconstructs the tradition, whether that be by the reworking or intertextual reading of the biblical text, or the creative use of a pre-existing motif. It is this use of the tradition, as Milman Parry has observed, that reveals the most about a given author and their work.4 Rather than comparing plots or tracking down motifs, I am trying to understand how each text construes the story of Joseph.5 The overarching theme in the Christian construal of Joseph is the way he typifies Christ (chapter 2). For early Syriac Christians, the story of Joseph was filled with the promise of Jesus and shadows of his betrayal, drawing upon the language of betrayal found in the New Testament. Chapter 2 examines the ways these two lives are bound together in the Syriac tradition. This is a pervasive theme in the sources, but also a dynamic one. David Brown has observed that one consequence of making Joseph a type of Christ was to bring about a ‘halt’ to the effective use of the Joseph narrative as ‘a medium for moral reflection’.6 To be sure, the sources do wrestle with the construction of both Joseph and Jacob, striving to ensure that they are continually worthy of their status as exemplary types of Christ. Moreover, in so doing most of them are necessarily uninterested in any sense of moral growth in these characters—but not all. However, while Jacob and Joseph are held up as shining exemplary figures (chapter 3), the portrayal of the depravity of the brothers (chapter 4) and of Potiphar’s wife (chapters 6, 7, and 8) offers plenty of scope for the authors to engage in serious reflection on ‘moral growth and how that might occur’.7

4 ‘As Milman Parry said in discussing another literature, one poet is “better than another not because he has by himself found a more striking way of expressing his own thoughts but because he has been better able to make use of the tradition”. Although there are obvious dangers and limitations to such an approach, it is undoubtedly valuable for sharpening our perspective as we try to evaluate our early poetry’ (Quirk, ‘Poetic Language’, 150). 5 ‘The comparison of skeleton “plots” is simply not a critical literary process at all’. Tolkien, ‘Monsters and the Critics’, 256. 6 Brown, Tradition and Imagination, 260. Also, Yvonne Sherwood’s comment that in the Christian tradition Jonah ‘loses his own voice and script and outline and becomes a ventriloquist for Christ’ (Biblical Text and Its Afterlives, 17). 7 Brown, Tradition and Imagination, 260.

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Throughout this study I examine instances of the imaginative expansion of the Bible that characterizes these early sources. The narrative art of the sources is exposed through an analysis of how they view and construe these expanded episodes. It is in these moments, where little is at stake, either morally or theologically, that the authors of these narratives exhibit their capacity for living into scripture and artistically narrating what they see.8 This study is, then, an attempt to portray how the Joseph narrative was construed in the Syriac tradition, to expose the relationships between the texts, and to explain the transformations that occur in the tradition. This is also a study of the history of Syriac literature. The history of a literature is not simply a recitation of its major authors and their works. Rather, it requires understanding individual texts in their generic and thematic context, recognizing relationships between texts, discerning the influence of historical context, and attending to the afterlives of texts—how they are transmitted, the influence they exert outside of their original context, and the ancient and modern scholarship that seeks to understand and control the sources. This is not an exhaustive study of the Syriac Joseph tradition. Rather, this and my other work on these texts should be understood as an invitation to join in the pursuit of Joseph in the Syriac tradition. I have come to believe, with Potiphar’s wife, that Joseph cannot really be caught—he always escapes one’s grasp! Yet, I and others will continue to reach for him. And, with such rich materials, as Robert Murray observed in a different context, there is always more work ‘for another time and other seekers’.9 8 I draw the notion of ‘living into scripture’ from Farrer, End of Man, 12: ‘There is a traditional and quite simple form of prayer, or shall we say of private worship, which consists of taking gospel scenes, and living oneself into them. There is even a traditional and quite limited set of scenes: the joys of Christmas the sorrows of Holy Week, the glories of Easter into heaven itself’. 9 Murray, ‘Some Rhetorical Patterns’, 131.

Acknowledgements This book began its life as a University of Birmingham PhD thesis supervised by David G.K. Taylor and examined by Alison Salvesen (Oxford) and Charlotte Hempel (Birmingham). David was a generous and supportive supervisor and is a kind and encouraging friend. I treasure the many pleasurable hours we have spent in wide-ranging conversation about Syriac studies broadly conceived. I am grateful to Bas ter Haar Romeny for reading carefully through the manuscript at the beginning of the submission process, offering sound and valuable advice, and for later accepting this volume into a series devoted to the exploration of the Peshitta and its reception in the Syriac tradition. I am grateful also to the editors and production team at Brill for turning my manuscript into such a splendid book, with special thanks to Dirk Bakker for his expert editorial care. I feel fortunate to work at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. A series of directors (Noel Reynolds, Andrew Skinner, Jerry Bradford, and Spencer Fluhman) each offered encouragement and provided support for this project, and a group of generous colleagues kindly commented on several portion of the manuscripts presented in Institute seminars. At byu, I also benefited from the Harold B. Lee Library’s commendable research collection and brilliant and unfailingly ingenious Interlibrary Loan department. Numerous libraries around the world have graciously provided me with access to their Syriac manuscripts, both in person, by microfilm, and in digital form. Thanks to these libraries, and a grant from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, I was able to inspect (personally or virtually) almost every manuscript cited in this study. Aaron Butts, David Calabro, Chip Coakley, Susan Harvey, Robert Kitchen, Lance Martin, Alessandro Mengozzi, Sergey Minov, Yifat Monnickendam, Heleen Murre-van den Berg, Paul-Hubert Poirier, David Taylor, and Jeffrey Wickes graciously read parts of the manuscript at various stages in the project and I am grateful for their help, suggestions, corrections, and especially their encouragement. Adam Becker, Abby Ellis, Philip Forness, Emma Franklin, Carl Griffin, Erin Walsh, and Joseph Witztum generously read the entire manuscript near the end of the project and offered wise and valuable advice and corrections which have improved this book considerably. Aaron Butts, Joseph Witztum, and I are engaged in a collaborative project to publish a critical edition of the Syriac History of Joseph together with its Arabic, Ethiopic and Latin versions in the Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum. I am grateful for their friendship and collegiality as we have worked together

acknowledgements

xiii

on that project, including organizing a memorable workshop together on the figure of Joseph at the Hebrew University in 2014. Work on Narsai’s memra on Joseph has been enriched by a collaboration with Aaron Butts and Robert Kitchen to publish a complete translation of Narsai in English, and by the splendid papers presented at the conference, ‘Narsai: Rethinking His Work and His World’, held at Brigham Young University in June 2017. Work on the transmission of the Syriac Joseph literature took shape thanks to a kind invitation from Amir Harrak to lecture in Toronto—I am grateful to the generous hospitality that he and Kyle Smith extended in Toronto, and for the chance to publish that lecture in the Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies. Muriel Debié, Sergey Minov, Hidemi Takahashi, Jack Tannous, and David Taylor have been splendid co-conspirators in the task of finding out-of-the-way publications or copies of rare items that are often needed in a hurry. I am constantly inspired by their deep expertise and broad curiosity. My bibliography shows my intellectual debt to Sebastian Brock’s groundbreaking work on Syriac narrative poetry, but it is inadequate as an expression of respect and thanks for his memorable instruction, inspiring scholarship, and the interest he has shown in this project over many years. Finally, my family have been patient, encouraging, and often bemused in their support of this project. I am especially grateful to my brother Marcus, who helped defray the costs of my PhD and encouraged me in my intellectual ambitions. Vicki-Bronwen and I married when I was an undergraduate, and we have worked, suffered, lived, laughed, and rejoiced together through education, employment, moving countries, raising five wonderful children, and now, finally seeing this book into press. Thank you.

Abbreviations Bibliographical references appear throughout this study in the form of short citations. Full details are given in the bibliography. S.P. Brock, ‘The Published Verse Homilies of Isaac of Antioch, Jacob of Serugh, and Narsai: Index of Incipits’. jss 32 (1987), 279–313 cavt Haelewyck, Jean-Claude, Clavis apocryphorum Veteris Testamenti (Corpus Christianorum; Turnhout: Brepols, 1998) cpg Geerard, Maurice, et al., Clavis Patrum Graecorum (5 vols.; Corpus Christianorum; Turnhout: Brepols, 1974–1987) csco Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium ectt Eastern Christian Texts in Translation es Études syriaques foc The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation gecs Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies jcsss Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies jeh Journal of Ecclesiastical History jets Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society jras Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society jsp Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha jss Journal of Semitic Studies jts Journal of Theological Studies jqr Jewish Quarterly Review lcl The Loeb Classical Library me Mōrān ’Eth’ō (Kottayam) mpi Monographs of the Peshitta Institute oca Orientalia Christiana Analecta ocp Orientalia Christiana Periodica po Patrologia Orientalis ps Patrologia Syriaca Q Qur’ān S Syriaca.org Work id number seeri St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute stac Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum svpt Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha svt Supplements to Vetus Testamentum TeCLA Texts from Christian Late Antiquity teg Traditio Exegetica Graeca Br1

abbreviations

thhb tsaj tsec tth

Textual History of the Hebrew Bible Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity Translated Texts for Historians

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introduction

Rewriting the Bible in the Early Syriac Tradition Biblical stories and figures did not stay in the Bible but were repeatedly reimagined and recreated. However, little is known about the mechanics and results of this literary process in the early Syriac tradition. ‘We must grant the artist his subject, his idea, his donnée’, said Henry James. ‘Our criticism is applied only to what he makes of it’.1 The subject that this book explores is the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis, and the variety and history of the Syriac Joseph texts that were generated from reimagining and rewriting this story. The first step involves a consideration of genre. Little attention has been given to the study of the genres of early Syriac literature, and less to the study of its subgenres.2 By genre I mean a ‘kind’ of literary work, and I follow contemporary usage by treating ‘kind’ as a synonym for ‘genre’. Alistair Fowler defines ‘a kind [as] a type of literary work of definite size, marked by a complex of substantive and formal features that always include a distinctive (though not usually unique) external structure’.3 I subdivide kinds, or genres, into subgenres, with genre determining form and subgenre determining the subject matter.4 These divisions and subdivisions correspond to the features of literary kind rather than the Syriac titles given in the manuscripts to literary works, which, as I argue below, are often insufficiently precise to be useful for genre classification, let alone subgenre division. There is, however, a sufficient consistency of formal and substantive features in the Syriac works discussed in this introduction to suggest that Syriac authors were deliberately working in specific genres and subgenres. The first decision that an author made in rewriting the story of Joseph was which genre to work in. Why? Because, as Claudio Guillén observes, genre ‘is a problem-solving model on the level of form’.5 An author may set out to retell the story of Joseph, but it is the choice of genre that solves the problem of the form that retelling will take. Genre is the first of a series of decisions that an 1 James, ‘The Art of Fiction’. James argues that the primary task of the critic is to ‘select none but the richest [subject]’. 2 A valuable exception is Griffin, Cyrillona, which includes a useful discussion of ‘Form and Genre’ for each poem in the corpus. 3 Fowler, Kinds of Literature, 74. Discussed in Corman, ‘Liberating Powers of Genre’, 102. 4 In making this distinction I follow Corman, ‘Liberating Powers of Genre’, 103, with reference to Fowler, Kinds of Literature, 106–129, and Colie, Resources of Kind. 5 Guillén, Literature as System, 120. Discussed in Fowler, Kinds of Literature, 31.

© Kristian S. Heal, 2023 | doi:10.1163/9789004526969_002

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introduction

author makes in solving the problem of how to retell a story. It is, therefore, important to understand a little more about the generic possibilities in early Syriac literature. This is not simply a literary curiosity, nor indeed primarily an aid to classification, though it is that. Thinking about the genre choices of an author means taking seriously the corollary question asked by Frances Young: ‘to what extent does the interpretative genre shape the interpretation offered and the interests of the interpreter, creating conventions which predetermine the approach to and perception of the text and its meaning?’6 Genre is thus essential to understanding the process and result of reimagining and retelling a biblical story. Genre enables or limits certain interpretative possibilities; it also establishes and engages with audience expectations. A consideration of genre thus contributes to the difficult task of understanding the social context and audience of a text. Yet, contemporary genre theory encourages the critic to move beyond the identification of genre as a determining constraint. Genre does not simply ‘place a restraint on spontaneous expression’, but ‘makes the expressiveness of literary works possible’, because the choice of genre is ‘not one of passive membership but of active modulation’.7 This means that thinking about genre requires working along two axes. One axis of inquiry requires attending to how genre is shaping and predetermining the retelling or interpretation of a scene or passage. The other axis requires considering how a work performs the genre within which the author is creating, and in so doing fuelling the expressiveness of a particular work. Genre theory helps to refine principles of generic difference and better appreciate the work going on within genre boundaries. It is also interested in the similarities between literary works that transcend generic boundaries. Though genre is not primarily a means of classification, thinking about genre does tend to expose difference and result in systems of classification.8 These systems are valuable but will always fail. As Wai Chee Dimock observes, even at its best, genre ‘is a self-obsoleting system, a provisional set that will always be bent and pulled and stretched by its many subsets’.9 This is why Dimock, following Fowler, prefers to think of genre not only in terms of ‘kind’ but also in terms of ‘kin’:10 ‘Genre is not just a theory of classification but, perhaps even

6 7 8 9 10

Young, Biblical Exegesis, 4. Fowler, Kinds of Literature, 20. See, for example, the five-part classification in Brock, ‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’. Dimock, ‘Genre as World System’, 86. ‘Family resemblance theory seems to hold out the best hope to the genre critic’ (Fowler, Kinds of Literature, 42).

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more crucially, a theory of interconnection. Kin is every bit as important as kind. And by kin, what I have in mind is not necessarily a genealogical relation, but, just as often, a remote spectrum of affinities, interesting when seen in conjunction, but not themselves organically linked’.11 Thinking of genre in terms of texts with family resemblances in addition to collections of texts that have formal identity offers a more encompassing and persuasive approach to classification. Bounds are still set in thinking about literary kind, but sometimes the boundaries are transcended as a different set of criteria serve to establish connections of literary kinship.12 Poetry was the primary vehicle for retelling the Bible among the early Syriac authors. I am, therefore, especially interested in understanding the early Syriac poetic genres.13 Following a traditional, though modern schema,14 early Syriac poetry is said to construe biblical narratives in three genres—lyric, dialogue, and narrative.15 In addition to their formal differences, these three genres correspond to performative contexts: lyric poetry purports to be ‘directly expressive of the author’s own thoughts and feelings’;16 dialogue poetry is written from the perspective of the characters being dramatized so ‘the poet disappears behind his cast of characters’;17 and in narrative poetry a story is told in a ‘mixed narrative’, in which ‘the poet partly speaks in his own person, as narrator, and partly makes his characters speak in direct discourse’.18 This tripartite division is useful, but not entirely sufficient for the purposes of this study. I will instead classify Syriac retellings of biblical narratives in four distinct genres: prose narratives, narrative poems (including epic poems), verse 11 12

13 14 15

16

17 18

Dimock, ‘Genre as World System’, 86. I distinguish between narrative and dialogue poetry, for example, while Sebastian Brock has sometimes highlighted the family resemblances between these two kinds of texts (Brock, ‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’). On early Syriac poetry in general see Brock, ‘Poetry’, ‘Poetry and Hymnography’, and ‘Later Syriac Poetry’. Genette, ‘Architext’. Already used by Sebastian Brock, for example, who divides the Syriac poetry on Mary into ‘Lyric poetry or prayer songs, dialogue poems, and narrative poems’. Brock, Bride of Light, 12. See also Brock, Treasure-house, 13, where he notes that ‘the poems included in this collection take three different forms, lyric, narrative, and dialogue’. Cavitch, ‘Genre’, 551. Ephrem’s Hymns on Paradise are a fine example of lyric poem tackling a biblical theme. On Ephrem’s use of scripture in the Hymns on Paradise see Wickes, Bible and Poetry. Wellek and Warren, Theory of Literature, 228. Wellek and Warren, Theory of Literature, 227–228. Helen Vendler says more simply that narrative poetry ‘tells a story’ (Poems, Poets, Poetry, 107). Vendler goes on, however, to discuss narrative elements in lyric poetry (Poems, Poets, Poetry, 107–110), pointing to the reality that there is a hybridity in the genre of certain works.

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homilies, and dialogue poems. I describe these generic kinds in the following pages, also noting interesting kinship connections that seem to transcend and challenge these generic boundaries. The goal is to present a dynamic system of genre classifications in which the Syriac Joseph texts can be analysed in relation to other texts according to kind, and in relation to each other according to kin.19 I conclude this introduction with some remarks on how I read these sources.

Prose Narratives Several Joseph texts, including the earliest (Texts 3–5),20 are written in prose. The most influential of these, the Syriac History of Joseph, has already been identified by Brock as a ‘prose narrative in dramatized form’, and was the primary inspiration for one of the early narrative poems on Joseph (Text 9).21 The migration of prose narratives into verse is a fascinating example of texts migrating across formal boundaries.22 It also illustrates the value of considering texts as kind and kin. These prose and poetic texts exhibit striking differences and similarities, pointing to both distinction and belonging. The corpus of prose narratives retelling biblical episodes is comparatively small.23 Narratives retelling Old Testament episodes include the Life of Abel,24 and On Abraham,25 both written in artistic prose, and a prose narrative based on 2 and 4Maccabees entitled The Story of Mary, who is Shmuni, and her Seven Martyred Sons.26 I know of only one prose narrative retelling a New Testament

19

20 21 22 23

24 25 26

For comparative purposes, I draw on the corpus of narrative and dialogue poems on biblical themes described in Brock, ‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’, 138; and Brock, ‘Syriac Dialogue Poems’. Referring to Texts 3–5 discussed in chapter 1. Brock, ‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’, 140 n. 16. I discuss this in Heal, ‘Five Types of Rewriting’. I think that the Syriac History was also the catalyst for Text 11. The literary context of these prose narratives includes the Acts of Thomas and the Teaching of Addai, both of which display many of the features of the prose narratives discussed below. Brock, ‘Syriac Life of Abel’, which dates the text to the fifth or early sixth century (p. 468). Brock, ‘Anonymous Syriac Homily’. Dated by Brock to the fourth or early fifth century (p. 225). Bensley and Barnes, Fourth Book of Maccabees, xxvi, (introduction), xxxv–xliv (translation), 103*–115* (text). More recent work on this text is found in Witakowski, ‘Mart(y) Shmuni’, 161; Peterson, Martha Shamoni; Brock, ‘Eleazar, Shmuni’, 330; and Young, ‘Anonymous Mēmrā’.

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story, which is The Revelation of the Magi, found uniquely in the Chronicle of Zuqnin.27 Interestingly, each of these biblical episodes retold in narrative prose is also taken up as the subject of narrative and dialogue poetry.28 The paucity of examples is also striking, and it is worth considering whether prose works have been lost, or if narrative poetry simply eclipsed narrative prose as the preferred genre for retelling biblical narratives.29 These prose narratives share features with narrative poetry. Indeed, two of the surviving prose narratives are written conscientiously in an artistic prose style ‘full of paired phrases carefully balanced off against each other’.30 This elevated style is also found in Aphrahat’s Demonstrations (Text 2) and Ephrem’s Commentary on Genesis (Text 3).31 Moreover, the prose narratives are similarly expanded, extra-canonical material is absorbed, and speeches are added to provide ‘the reactions of the various figures in the drama to the course of events’.32 The relationship between the prose narratives, narrative poems, and dialogue poems is complex, but in a number of cases the prose narratives were clearly written earlier and influenced the later narrative poems.33 This seems to be the case, for example, with the anonymous prose narrative On Abraham, which directly influenced the two anonymous narrative poems on Abraham, as Sebastian Brock has argued.34

Narrative Poetry Rubens Duval stated over a century ago that Syriac memre (‫ܡܪܐ‬焏‫‘ )ܡ‬belong to the narrative and epic genre’.35 This is, of course, not strictly correct. As Sid-

27 28 29 30 31

32 33 34 35

Edited in Chabot, Chronicon anonymum; English translation in Landau, Revelation of the Magi. This text is dated to the fourth or early fifth century. Rewriting prose narratives in verse is discussed briefly in Heal, ‘Five Kinds of Rewriting’, 57–58. Andrew Palmer suspects that the narrative poem about Saint Andrew ‘may be a versification of a [lost] prose-narrative’ (Van Esbroeck, ‘Ballad about Saint Andrew’, 34 n.3). Brock, ‘Syriac Life of Abel’, 468. Also, Brock, ‘Anonymous Syriac Homily’, 230–232. Brock (‘Ephrem’s Letter to Publius’ 262–263) has identified several other works in this style: Ephrem, Memra on our Lord; Ephrem, Letter to Publius; the Martyrdom of Simeon (both versions); and the Life of Azad. Brock, ‘Syriac Life of Abel’, 468. This is demonstrably the case with the hagiographical narrative poems discussed in Brock, ‘L’hagiographie versifiée’, 114–117. Brock, ‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’, 97–99, visualized nicely on 98. It is also clear that the Syriac History of Joseph (Text 4) is the basis for Joseph Son of Jacob (Text 9). Duval, Syriac Literature, 12, following Baumstark, Geschichte, 40 (§7b). Brock classified

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ney Griffith has observed, memra ‘in Syriac is by itself a somewhat non-descript, general term that normally means simply “speech”, or even “oration”, among other possibilities’. It is not ‘a genre marker’.36 In fact, ‘memra can also designate a prose discourse’.37 So, although most narrative and epic poems in Syriac are formally verse memre, this poetic form is actually used for a variety of genres, especially the verse homily. To complicate Duval’s observation further, Syriac narrative poems also appear in other metrical forms (see Text 25).38 Despite these complications, narrative poetry is an important genre in early Syriac literature. Narrative poems, like almost all verse memre, maintain a steady line length, in couplets or quatrains. The only exceptions are a small corpus of narrative poems comprised of multiple sections, each with a different line length (see Text 10). The most frequent line lengths in narrative poems are seven syllables (for example Text 6 and 14) and twelve syllables (Texts 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13).39 Twelvesyllable lines are generally comprised of three units of four syllables.40 Sense units generally correspond strictly with the versification. Most Syriac narrative poems retell a single scene or episode from scripture or extra-canonical texts, ‘entirely devoid, or almost so, of homiletic asides in the author’s voice’.41 Narrative poems are thus characterized by the continuity of the story. Narrative poems based on Old Testament stories and scenes include Abraham and Sarah in Egypt (Gen. 12:10–20),42 two poems on Abraham and

36 37 38

39 40 41 42

this genre as the fourth of five types of dialogue poetry in his ‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’. These observations usefully track the dramatic content of Syriac narrative poetry. In more recent work Brock consistently refers to the poems enumerated below as narrative poems (see fn. 15 in this chapter). Griffith, ‘Poetics of Scriptural Reasoning’, 7, where he also adds that ‘the term [memra] itself is not genre specific in Syriac’. Brock, ‘Poetry and Hymnography’, 659. See also the soghithā on Abraham and Isaac published in Brock, Soghyatha Mgabbyatha, 7–12; discussed in Brock, ‘Syriac Dialogue Poems’, 41; and translated in Brock, Treasurehouse, 66–75. Brock has also identified ‘a long stanzaic poem’ on the Maccabean martyrs, ‘which unusually has a narrative character’ (Brock, ‘Eleazar, Shmuni’, 330). Forness ‘Construction of Metrical Poetry’ examines the twelve syllable-couplet as used by Narsai and Jacob of Serugh. Griffith prefers to analyse twelve-syllable couplets as twenty-four-syllable lines and twelve-syllable half-lines (‘Poetics of Scriptural Reasoning’, 7). Brock, ‘Poetry and Hymnography’, 663. Brock and Hopkins, ‘Verse Homily on Abraham and Sarah’. Dated to the fifth or sixth century (92), and possibly written in the Sassanid empire (136). Brock suggests an affinity between this text and the second of the two narrative poems on Abraham and Isaac referenced in the following footnote (92, 96).

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Isaac (Gen. 22),43 several of the Joseph texts introduced in chapter 1 (Text 11, 12, 13), the Death of Aaron (Num. 20:23–29),44 Elijah and the Widow of Sarepta (1 Kgs. 17),45 and the Maccabean Martyrs (4Macc.).46 Narrative poems based on New Testament stories and scenes include On the Annunciation,47 Mary and Joseph (Matt. 1:18–21),48 the Ephremic memra on the Sinful Woman and Satan (Luke 7:36–48),49 and Cyrillona’s poems On the Institution of the Eucharist,50 and On the Washing of the Feet.51 Stories based on extra-canonical texts are rarer, but include a narrative poem about Andrew the Apostle when he was sent to the Land of Kalbin.52 There are also hagiographies written as narrative poems, and there is sufficient similarity between the hagiographical and biblical narrative to treat them together as part of the same genre.53 What is the character of Syriac narrative poetry? One central component is the proliferation of imagined speeches. Biblical speeches are expanded,54 43 44 45 46

47 48 49

50 51 52

53

54

Brock, ‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’. Dated by Brock to the mid to second half of the fifth century (97). Heal, Homily on Aaron. Brock, ‘Syriac Verse Homily on Elijah’. See also Brock, ‘Syriac Poetry on Biblical Themes’. Bensly and Barnes, Fourth Book of Maccabees, xxiv–xxv (introduction), xlviii–lxxii (translation), 126*–154* (text). See more recently on this text, Witakowski, ‘Mart(y) Shmuni’, 161–162; Brock, ‘Eleazar, Shmuni’, 330, who notes two other narrative poems on this same theme (including a narrative poem in the soghithā verse form), and also gives his impression that ‘it is the two biblical books themselves that are the prime source for the various Syriac literary creations that come down to us’. Edited in Beck, Nachträge, i.1–196, with an English translation in Brock, Bride of Light, 151– 156, where it is entitled, ‘Verse Homily on the Virgin Mary i’. Edited in Brock, Luqqate d-memre, no. 7, with an English translation in Brock, Treasurehouse, 151–166. Edited in Beck, Sermones ii, 78–91. A slightly different version is edited in Brock, Luqqate dmemre, no. 8, with an English translation in Brock, Treasure-house, 185–201, 293. Discussed recently in Harvey, ‘Why the Perfume Mattered’, 72–73, who calls it an Ephremic memra. Griffin, Works of Cyrillona, 18–70; Griffin, Cyrillona, 56–59. Griffin, Works of Cyrillona, 72–88; Griffin, Cyrillona, 101–106. Edition and French translation in Van Esbroeck, ‘Acts syriaque d’André’; partial English translation (by Andrew Palmer), summary and notes in Van Esbroeck, ‘Ballad about Saint Andrew’. Brock, ‘L’hagiographie versifiée’, 114–117. Among late antique compositions, Brock mentions Jacob of Serugh’s narrative poems, On the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, and, On the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, and the narrative poem, On Saint Sergius and Bacchus, by Isaac of Antioch. A particularly striking example of expanded speeches are the long speeches placed in the mouth of Jesus in Cyrillona’s narrative poems. For example, the discourse by Jesus in On the Institution of the Eucharist, 354–576, based on Luke 22:19–20 and 1Cor. 11:24–25 (analysed in Griffin, Cyrillona, 83–96); and the discourse at the beginning of On the Pasch, 25–174, based on John 14–16 (analysed in Griffin, Cyrillona, 83–96).

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silent characters are given voice,55 and new characters emerge.56 Authors even peered inside the hearts and minds of biblical characters to tell their secret thoughts, as, for example, when Joseph reflects upon his situation while standing naked outside in the street after escaping from Potiphar’s wife.57 What is distinctive about narrative poetry, in contrast to dialogue poetry, is that the narrative frame provides purpose for the dialogue. At the same time the dialogue enriches the characterization within the narrative, which is otherwise sparing with descriptive material. For example, the merchants who bought and sold Joseph may be given speeches, but the narrator does not ever describe their appearance. Speech and description serve the narrative objectives, which are primarily, if implicitly, exegetical, protreptic and admonitory. They are an aid to characterization and thus to exemplarity, exhorting the listener to emulate the behaviour of biblical figures, or what one poet calls ‘their (moral) beauty and their manner of life’.58 Narrative poems on biblical themes seem to draw from three sources simultaneously: canonical scripture, extra canonical sources, and the imagination of the author. As Sidney Griffith observes, in Syriac narrative poetry ‘the recollection of the stories of the biblical patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, for example, incorporates not only the words of the canonical scriptures but also much nonbiblical, traditional lore otherwise found in so-called “apocryphal texts” and other popular religious literature, not excluding the imaginative dialogues and interpretative contributions of the composers themselves’.59 A clear example of these three sources coming together is the anonymous narrative poem on Mary and Joseph mentioned earlier, which draws from the Gospels, the Protoevangelium of James, and the author’s own imagination to produce, according to Sebastian Brock, ‘one of the best examples of the genre’.60 Another useful example is the narrative poem on Abraham and Sarah in Egypt. After discussing the biblical and non-biblical sources for this poem the editors conclude

55

56 57 58 59 60

For example, Sarah, assumed to be present in the story of Genesis 22, is given prominent voice in the two anonymous narrative poems on Abraham and Isaac (Brock, ‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’). See chapter 5 below for the speeches of the merchants who purchased Joseph (Gen. 37:28, 36). For example, the perfume seller in the anonymous narrative poem, The Sinful Woman and Satan, 75–118 (Brock, Treasure-house, 188–190). See chapter 8 below. Other examples include the Sinful Woman’s reflections on hearing that Jesus would dine at Simeon’s house (Brock, Treasure-house, 186–187). On Abraham and Sarah in Egypt, 2 (Brock and Hopkins, ‘Verse Homily on Abraham and Sarah’, 104). Griffith, ‘Poetics of Scriptural Reasoning’, 20. Brock, ‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’, 142.

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that ‘certain features in the unfolding of the narrative, for which we have discovered no good parallels, are in fact innovations on the author’s part, and do not represent traditional aggadic elaborations of the biblical narrative which happen not to survive elsewhere’.61 The responsible study of Syriac narrative poetry demands the careful analysis of all three possible sources of inspiration and the recognition of the role and creativity of the author in utilizing all three.62 Excursus: Epic Poetry A few Syriac narrative poems have been classified as epic poems in modern scholarship and histories of literature, though generally without interrogating the category.63 The earliest of these is the beautiful Hymn of the Pearl, preserved in, but evidently older than, the Syriac Acts of Thomas.64 Ephrem’s poem on Jonah and the Ninevites has also been called an epic poem,65 and by the same logic Isaac’s poem On the Magi would also qualify.66 The closest thing to a ‘secular epic’ in Syriac is the narrative poem on Alexander attributed to Jacob of Serugh.67 Jacob’s cycle of ten verse homilies On Joseph (Text 8) has also been denominated an epic poem by Baumstark, evidently due to its length. In the same breath, Baumstark also classifies a whole series of Jacob’s larger scale poems or homily cycles as epics, including the cycles On Faith, On Moses, On Creation, On the End of the World, Against the Jews, On Jonah, On Job, On Cain and Abel, On Sodom, On Elijah, On Elisha, On Daniel, and On

61 62 63

64 65

66

67

Brock and Hopkins, ‘Verse Homily on Abraham and Sarah’, 94. This analysis will naturally raise interesting questions about canon and scriptural authority in the Syriac tradition. These are unlike antique Christian epic poems in Greek and Latin, which are clearly based on classical epic models. See Roberts, Biblical Epic and Rhetorical Paraphrase; and Green, Latin Epics of the New Testament. However, it is not unimaginable that Syriac epic and narrative poetry arose from cultural imperatives similar to those that produced these Greek and Latin epics (Kinzig, ‘Greek Christian Writers’, 637–638). Edited with an English translation in Bevan, Hymn of the Soul. Considered an epic poem in Russell, ‘The Epic of the Pearl’. Edited with a German translation in Beck, Sermones ii; English translation in Burgess, Repentance of Nineveh. Baumstark refers to this poem as an epic (Geschichte, 43). The versions are discussed in Brock, ‘Ephrem’s Verse Homily on Jonah’. Found in Vatican, Syriac 120, f. 197b–209a (6th C); Vatican, Syriac 117, f. 70b col. i–73b col. iii (12th/13th C); Vatican, Syriac 364, f. 230a–243b (a modern copy of Vatican, Syriac 120, on which see Baumstark, Geschichte, 64). I have an edition and translation in preparation. The poem is discussed in Baumstark, Geschichte, 191, and edited with a German translation in Reinink, Syrische Alexanderlied.

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Holy Week.68 In Baumstark’s classification, however, these would be didactic epics rather than narrative epics.69 Most, but by no means all, of the poems classified as epic are long narrative poems that cover, as Sebastian Brock has observed, ‘a whole series of episodes’ rather than a single story or scene.70 However, making length or the treatment of multiple episodes the basis for classifying these narrative poems as epic poems may be problematic. Certainly, as Maurice Bowra has stated, ‘An epic poem is by common consent a narrative of some length’. But that alone is not sufficient for epic classification, so Bowra adds that epic poetry ‘deals with events which have a certain grandeur and importance and comes from a life of action, especially of violent action such as war’.71 The narrative poems that are differentiated primarily by the fact that they take up a multi-episode story as their theme may not actually achieve the grandeur and near-mythic quality of epic poetry. How, then, should these multi-episode narrative poems be classified? Should they be treated simply as a sub-genre of narrative poems? I am inclined to reply yes. However, in the absence of more considered answers to these questions I continue to use the category of epic, recognizing that more work certainly needs to be done before classifying these long multi-episodic poems as Syriac epics without qualifications. Moreover, I think it is useful to draw upon the rich interpretative literature on epic in analysing Syriac narrative poems, especially these multi-episode narrative poems. What is distinctive about epic poetry is its temporal hybridity. Epic poetry, according to one standard description, ‘stands midway between sacred myth, a story whose events take place entirely outside the profane world of historical men and events, and secular narrative, a story whose events take place entirely within the profane world of historical men and events, or within a fictional world whose operation is governed by the same laws as those that govern the actual world.’72 In this analysis, narrative and epic poetry sit at the juncture of received mythical traditions and poetic imagination. This collision of discursive worlds is fascinating and requires subtle analysis to tease apart the disparate influences in any given text. Indeed, perhaps the most important characteristic of narrative and epic poetry is this orientation towards tradi-

68 69 70 71 72

Baumstark, Geschichte, 151. Baumstark, Geschichte, 40. Brock, ‘Dramatic Dialologue Poems’, 140. Bowra, From Virgil to Milton, 1. Scholes et al., Nature of Narrative, 28.

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tion. As the standard account of the development of narrative puts it: ‘The epic story-teller is telling a traditional story. The primary impulse which moves him is not a historical one, nor a creative one; it is re-creative’. This orientation towards the traditional story, this re-creative urge, characterizes each of the narrative poems treated in this study. The description continues by observing that because ‘[the authors of epic poems are] retelling a traditional story … [their] primary allegiance is not to fact, not to truth, not to entertainment, but to the mythos itself—the story as preserved in tradition which the epic story-teller is recreating’.73 One of the interesting questions raised by this study is the source of the tradition that forms the basis of the poet’s recreating. For early Syriac Christians, the Bible replaced a dynamic pre-Christian set of traditional stories used by earlier narrative and epic poets. As Christianity spread in the epic world of Gilgamesh,74 it replaced the stories of such mighty heroes with another tradition, which produced other stories and other heroes.75 The translation of the Bible into Syriac inaugurated a Christian republic of letters in the Middle East. The Bible demanded devotion and is the basis of almost all Syriac narrative poetry. In terms of the development of Syriac narrative, the Bible is the tradition that storytellers recreate. Yet, the Bible is a tradition that is subject to adaptation and augmentation, dividing the loyalties of later authors. Many examples of the wrestle between the biblical text and the received tradition will be given throughout this study.

Verse Homily Sebastian Brock has argued that ‘towards the end of the fifth century two prolific poets, Narsai (d. c. 500) in the East Syriac tradition, and Jacob of Serugh (d. 521) in the West Syriac, adapt the narrative poem into a specifically homiletic context, producing the characteristically Syriac genre of the verse homily’.76 This argument accords with Fowler’s dictum that a new genre ‘is a transform-

73 74 75

76

Scholes et al., Nature of Narrative, 12. Critically edited and translated in George, Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic. It is possible that the appearance of Syriac narrative and epic poems in the late fourth and fifth centuries are part of the after-shock of Julian’s prohibitions against Christian teachers of rhetoric that inspired the creation of Christian epics in Greek, as discussed in Young, Biblical Exegesis, 69–75. Young argues that in this process ‘the Bible replaced Homer as the authoritative religious or philosophical text’ (75). Brock, ‘Ephrem and the Syriac Tradition’, 369.

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ation of an existing one, or else it is assembled’.77 It would also make verse homilies the most abundant kind of late antique narrative poem retelling biblical episodes. What is not clear, however, is the direction of transformation. Do verse homilies transform under the influence of narrative poetry, or do narrative poems transform under the influence of the homily? Brock would seem to argue for the latter.78 However, it is equally plausible that the selection of a scriptural narrative as the subject of a verse homily stretched the homiletic genre in the direction of the narrative poem, suggesting the possibility of an interplay between content and generic development. The similarities and differences once again indicate the value of considering these texts as both kind and kin. The family resemblances between verse homilies retelling biblical stories and narrative poems are clear. Nevertheless, verse homilies eschew continuous narrative, and so in this study I differentiate the verse homily as a separate kind of literature.79 And rather than referring to verse homilies telling biblical stories as a genre, I classify them as a subgenre of the verse homily proper. The value of classifying different types of sermons is now being recognized. As Philip Forness observes, ‘The distinction between different types of sermons may also aid in the further investigation of the rhetorical and didactic strategies of late antique preachers’.80 While there are many features shared by sermons of various types, it is nonetheless important to begin to establish a taxonomy of the genre so that the different types of sermons can be explored together. As I noted above, the genre, in this case verse homily, determines the form, while the subgenre, in this case retold biblical narrative, determines the content.81 A provisional list of verse homily subgenres includes ascetic homil-

77 78 79

80 81

Fowler, Kinds of Literature, 156. The narrative homily is ‘Type v’ in the schema presented in Brock, ‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’, 137. Sebastian Brock notes that what differentiates the verse homily from the narrative poem is where ‘the homiletic element prevails over the narration, and where a continuous story is missing’ (Brock, ‘L’hagiographie versifiée’, 117: ‘le memra homilétique dans lequel l’élément homilétique l’emporte sur la narration, et où une histoire continue manque’). Preaching Christology, 227. Gignoux classified Narsai’s verse homilies under these headings: liturgical, theological, soteriological (= kerygmatic), Old Testament, New Testament, martyological, festal, moral, and diverse (Homélies de Narsaï, 9–11). Brock classified Jacob of Serugh’s homilies under these headings: Old Testament, New Testament (with subheadings for Miracles and Parables, and Words of Christ), Liturgical Year, Other Liturgical, Saints, and Other Topics (Brock, ‘Jacob of Serugh: A Select Bibliographical Guide’, 221–234). Forness refers to exegetical sermons, festal homilies, admonitory addresses, and hagiographical homilies (Preaching Christology, 148).

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ies,82 exegetical homilies,83 festal homilies,84 funerary homilies,85 hagiographical homilies,86 liturgical homilies,87 polemical homilies,88 homilies on praise at table,89 rebuke homilies,90 theological homilies,91 and the narrative homilies treated here. This latter subgenre is by far the most populous in the surviving manuscripts, and there are, in fact, scores of verse homilies based on biblical narratives written in this mode and attributed to Ephrem, Isaac, Narsai, Jacob of Serugh, as well as many anonymous and pseudonymous examples. Interestingly, among the earliest manuscripts of Jacob of Serugh’s works, there are separate collections of Old and New Testament homilies following the order of the biblical narrative.92 This manuscript evidence suggests that these homilies stood in the place of a systematic commentary for particular reading communities, and perhaps even suggests the original context of Jacob’s preach82

83

84 85

86 87

88 89

90

91

92

For example, Ephrem, On Solitaries (Beck, Sermones iv; et in Amar, ‘On Hermits and Desert Dwellers’). On this genre in the corpus attributed to Isaac of Antioch see Bou Mansour, ‘Les écrits ascétiques’. On this genre in the works of Jacob see Griffith, ‘Mar Jacob of Serugh on Monks’. These are homilies that focus on a specific passage, and that lack a narrative thread. For example, Jacob of Serugh’s two memre on Leviticus (hs iii.242–259, 259–283) discussed in Lane, ‘ “There Is No Need of Turtle-Doves”’. See Coakley, ‘Syriac Exegesis’, 708–713, for a discussion of Narsai and Jacob’s place in the history of exegesis. For example, Ephrem, On Holy Week (Beck, Sermones in Hebdomadam Sanctum); Kollamparampil, Jacob of Serugh. Select Festal Homilies. For example, see the eleven memre on the departed listed in Brock, ‘Jacob of Serugh: A Select Bibliographical Guide’, 233, which are published partly in hs and partly in Akhrass and Syryany, 160 Unpublished Homilies. See, for example, the list of Jacob of Serugh’s homilies on Saints in Brock, ‘Jacob of Serugh: A Select Bibliographical Guide’, 230–232. See also Brock, ‘L’hagiographie versifiée’, 117. For Narsai’s homilies on baptism see Connolly, Liturgical Homilies; Kappes ‘Voice of Many Waters’; Becker, ‘Names in Fervent Water’; and Childers ‘In Search of Jesus’. For Jacob’s homilies on baptism see Brock, ‘Baptismal Themes’. Ephrem, Against Bardaisan (Mitchell, Prose Refutations, ii.143–169, lxvi–lxxix); Ps Ephrem, Against Bardaisan (Duncan Jones, ‘Homily of St. Ephrem’). For example, Ps Ephrem, On Praise at Table (Rahmani, Luqote, ii.1–19; et in Hansbury, Hymns of Saint Ephrem); Jacob of Serugh, Homilies on Praise at Table (et in Childers, Jacob of Sarug’s Homilies). The earliest are Ephrem, On Reproof i–iii (Beck, Sermones i). The genre is used by Isaac, Narsai and Jacob. See Becker, ‘ “Evil Inclination” of the Jews’, for a discussion of the Lenten homilies of Narsai as rebuke texts. For example, Ephrem, Memre on Faith (Beck, Sermones de Fide; Hayes, Metrical Discourses on Faith); and Jacob of Serugh, Homily on the Council of Chalcedon (Bedjan, Homiliae selectae, vi.331–337) and Homily on Faith (Bedjan, Homiliae selectae, iii.581–646), which are both discussed in detail in Forness, Preaching Christology. Forness Preaching Christology, 49–51, with references to several early manuscript collections.

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ing or teaching. These collections also indicate that the generic distinctiveness and coherence of verse homilies treating biblical narratives was recognized early in their transmission history. The verse homily is a ‘chanted’93 or ‘cadenced sermon’.94 Cadenced speech is different from artistic prose. There is an elevated element to both, but the metrical constraints and regular structure not only foster the use of formulaic language,95 repetition, and tight syntactic structures, but would have produced a recognizable pulsing rhythm.96 At times the verse homily can rise to the level of ‘panegyric’,97 or settle into ‘theological and spiritual reflections’.98 Scripture is always central, regardless of the subgenre, and the verse homily can be seen as an example of ‘scriptural reminiscence and scriptural reasoning’,99 or ‘expository and hortatory discourse’.100 In some cases where the biblical narrative expands in the mouth of the homilist it seems that the result can only be called ‘narrative aggadah’, since it is an imaginative reworking or paraphrasing of the biblical text.101 Especially in the proem, but also throughout the verse homily there is often clear evidence of the performance of ‘authorial selfconsciousness’.102 In the narrative verse homily, the narrative thread runs through the poem, but sometimes the poem seems to stand in extraposition to the narrative. The narrative thread gives coherence to the poem, which in turn weaves new material into biblical narrative, thus transforming the narrative and lending it new meaning for the audience. Rather than just recreating, or giving voice to the dialogue within scripture, this refinement or adaptation of the narrative poem is in continuous dialogue with scripture.103 One consequence of this, however,

93 94 95 96 97

98

99 100 101 102 103

Griffith, ‘Poetics of Scriptural Reasoning’, 11. Griffith, ‘Disclosing the Mystery’, 48. Papoutsakis, ‘Formulaic Language’. Forness, ‘Construction of Metrical Poetry’, 99–103. Witkamp, Tradition and Innovation, 25, where Witkamp contrasts Narsai’s ‘general chronological picture of the liturgy’ in his verse homilies on baptism with the ‘neatly organized catechetical instructions of Theodore’, and concluded that Narsai’s verse homilies are ‘better understood as a panegyric’ on the theme. There are, however, also verse homilies that are formally panegyrics, as discussed in Brock, ‘L’hagiographie versifiée’, 117. Witkamp, Tradition and Innovation, 25, fn. 160, where Witkamp cites Thumpeparampil’s observation that ‘the major part’ of this pair of homilies ‘contains Narsai’s theological and spiritual reflections on the Mystery of baptism’. Griffith, ‘Poetics of Scriptural Reasoning’, 20. Griffith, ‘Disclosing the Mystery’, 48. Brock, ‘Midrash in Syriac’, 87. Becker, ‘ “Evil Inclination” of the Jews’, 184. On this process in Ephrem’s lyric poetry, see Wickes, Bible and Poetry.

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is that the narrative loses some of its enchantment. As Rita Felski notes, ‘If we are entirely caught up in a text, we can no longer place it in a context because it is the context, imperiously dictating the terms of its reception’.104 The persistent intervention of the homilist into the biblical narrative shifts the balance of power, making the homilist the primary interpretative voice. Yet, even as the enchantment of the narrative is disrupted, a different kind of aesthetic is embraced. The verse homily is often ‘meditative’,105 steeped in the didactic impulse. Fuelled by the possibilities and suggestiveness of language, the verse homily can circle its themes or approach and withdraw from them like waves.106 The Bible is not replaced, but redeployed. One distinctive feature of verse homilies on biblical narratives is the ‘attentive reading’ of the biblical text by ‘master[s] of biblical detail’.107 The homilists attended to the specifics of the narrative in question, but also read ‘the Bible as an organic whole and perceive[d] the relationships among its various parts’.108 The result is a multifaceted engagement with scripture, where forensic and narrative exegesis sits side by side with typological and canonical readings to produce what Sidney Griffith calls ‘applied biblical commentaries, scriptural exegesis in action, clarifying and expounding the passages of scripture read in the liturgies’.109 The resulting homilies range from the ‘highly imaginative’ to the prosaic.110 Coakley argues, for example, that a Narsai homily ‘often follows the biblical text closely, and in its expression it can be so didactic, or even argumentative, that it practically counts as prose commentary’.111 For Coakley, this method makes Narsai ‘exegetically and doctrinally the more precise, but poetically poorer for being restrained by rules of exegesis that inhibit the use of symbols and types’.112 Types are certainly not absent in Narsai,113 but where Narsai is restrained, Jacob of Serugh revels in finding types and symbols.114 Though Jacob’s ‘train 104 105 106

107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114

Felski, Uses of Literature, 57. Griffith, ‘Disclosing the Mystery’, 60. Coakley, for example, notes how Jacob of Serugh ‘relies on repetition, choosing an image and circling round it, gradually introducing fresh observations before going on to another’ (‘Syriac Exegesis’, 712). Morrison, ‘David’s Opening Speech’, 495, referring specifically to Jacob of Serugh. Morrison, ‘David’s Opening Speech’, 496. Griffith, ‘Poetics of Scriptural Reasoning’, 11. On forensic and narrative exegesis, see Heal, ‘Construal and Construction’. Griffith, ‘Disclosing the Mystery’, 52. Coakley, ‘Syriac Exegesis’, 708. Coakley, ‘Syriac Exegesis’, 711. Frishman, ‘Type and Reality’. Sidney Griffith notes how ‘Jacob goes significantly beyond both Ephraem’s and his own contemporary Narsai’s deployment of typological constructions put upon sundry details

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of thought is sometimes more digressive, that is because his imagination finds one symbol after another to explore’.115 The character of Jacob’s verse homilies on biblical narratives is nicely epitomized in Sidney Griffith’s description of Jacob’s treatment of Genesis 22: Jacob comments on Genesis 22 verse by verse, composing his mêmrâ line by line in versified twelve-syllable couplets. He both quotes from and paraphrases the biblical text, interweaving exegetical comments and imagining the scene as it unfolds. He builds the drama skilfully, setting the scene in deft strokes; he highlights the dialogue between father and son, along the way revealing their inner, anxiety ridden dialogues with themselves. All the while he makes sure that his listeners, who know the story by heart, will hear the right interpretations. The numerous occurrences of the term râzâ and its synonyms resound like a constant drumbeat throughout the mêmrâ; amid the sharply depicted details of the heartwrenching narrative there is no way the congregation could miss the homily’s message.116 I attempt to bring out some of these same features in my introductions to the verse homilies on Joseph by Narsai (Text 7) and Jacob of Serugh (Text 8). Verse homilies on biblical narratives also display clear continuities with narrative poems. One example from among many is the frequent ‘dramatic use of direct discourse’ in Jacob of Serugh’s verse homily On Tamar, in which ‘words [are] put into the mouths, not only of Judah (320, 360) and Tamar (341–348), but also of Judah’s family (200) and even his ring, staff and scarf (351–356)’.117 With regard to Jacob giving voice to inanimate objections, Morrison similarly notes regarding his verse homily On David and Goliath that ‘at times, perhaps for dramatic effect, he digresses, even allowing Goliath’s weapons to scream out for mercy before the soon-to-be victorious David’.118 The homilists even ‘gave God himself a non-scriptural voice …, in passages of divine soliloquy’.119 Jacob also addressed his characters directly. For example, when Tamar has finally been vindicated, Jacob cannot help directing himself to her:

115 116 117 118 119

in Old Testament narratives’ (‘Disclosing the Mystery’, 56). The differences could also reflect different performative contexts. Coakley, ‘Syriac Exegesis’, 711. Griffith, ‘Disclosing the Mystery’, 59, referring to Jacob of Serugh, On Abraham and His Types (Bedjan, Homiliae selectae, iv.61–103). Brock, ‘Jacob of Serugh’s Verse Homily on Tamar’, 306. Morrison, ‘David’s Opening Speech’, 496. Griffith, ‘Poetics of Scriptural Reasoning’, 15.

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17

Well done, Tamar, so full of beauty; I am full of wonder at you. Your entire story runs its course accompanied by parables and types. Christ the Sun was conveyed over the generations and by (His) Epiphany that will descend from you the entire creation will be illumined. You are a widow, a prostitute, a woman of noble birth (all in one), who acts furtively, but is filled with the beauty of righteousness.120 A similar apostrophe is found in Joseph Son of Jacob (Text 9), which is attributed to Jacob in two manuscripts. There, the author cannot restrain himself from congratulating Joseph for resisting Potiphar’s wife.121 Thus the rhetorical continuities are evident across these generic boundaries, which differentiate kind while connecting kin. A feature that is more common in the verse homily is ‘direct address to the audience, even soliciting their participation in the interpretative reading of a scriptural passage and in following the drift of the homilist’s scriptural reasoning’.122 This feature of direct address certainly suggests the oral character of the first performance of the verse homily. However, the production and performative context of Syriac homilies is elusive. Forness examined the corpus of homilies by Jacob of Serugh and simply concluded that, ‘the available evidence suggests that he had diverse audiences, preached throughout a broad geographical area over a long career, and delivered homilies in a variety of liturgical settings’.123 Yet the audience is ever-present in the homilies, just out of sight, unresponsive, but clearly there, and clearly invoked, engaged (and entertained) in their original context, whether the homily was written to be read before a crowd or the gestures towards a crowd are simply a rhetorical device employed by the author.

Dialogue Poetry Variously called dialogue, debate or dispute poetry, this genre features a contest or dialogue between two personified opponents, such as the Church and

120 121 122 123

On Tamar, 363–368 (Brock, ‘Jacob of Serugh’s Verse Homily on Tamar’, 301). The passage is given and discussed in chapter 8 below. Griffith, ‘Poetics of Scriptural Reasoning’, 12, noting examples from Narsai and Jacob of Serugh. Forness, Preaching Christology, 28–40, with citation from 40.

18

introduction

the Synagogue,124 or two characters in a biblical episode, such as Joseph and Mary,125 who may or may not be in dispute.126 Sebastian Brock has observed, ‘These poems belong to the genre of the “precedence dispute” which has a long ancestry in Mesopotamia, going back to Sumerian literature by way of Akkadian and (very probably) earlier Aramaic literature’.127 The corpus of Syriac dialogue poems is extensive, with fifty poems surviving with a variety of different participants: Old Testament figures, New Testament figures, personifications such as the Body and Soul, and dialogues between individuals such as Cyril and Nestorius.128 The standard poetic form of the dialogue poem is the soghithā, described by Alessandro Mengozzi as a special form of the classical stanzaic hymn (madrāshā) and consists of a series of four-line verses (quatrains), made up of seven syllable lines. Verses are often connected by an alphabetic acrostic—each or a couple of verses begin with a letter of the alphabet—and—from the 9th century, but especially in the late period (13th–20th centuries)—the line-endings within each verse generally rhyme.129 The madrasha is a versatile metrical form that is conducive to both lyric poems on biblical themes and dialogue poetry. The dialogue genre is in vibrant and diverse usage throughout Syriac literature, beginning with Ephrem. However, not all dialogue poems are written in the form of a soghithā.130 And, not all 124 125 126 127

128 129

130

Brock, People and the Peoples. Brock, Mary and Joseph. The genre is examined most extensively in Mengozzi, L’invenzione del dialogo. Brock, ‘Later Syriac Poetry’, 329. See also, Murray, ‘Aramaic and Syriac Dispute-Poems’. Elsewhere, Brock draws a distinction between Syriac precedent disputes, ‘where victory is allocated to one party’, and dialogue poems, which ‘take on the form of an argument where the two parties eventually reach agreement or become reconciled to one another’. The latter is a development of the former, and ‘it is the formalized nature of the dialogue which alone betrays the origins of the genre’ (‘Syriac Dialogue Poems’, 33). I am grateful to Philip Forness for this reference. The complete corpus is listed in this order in Brock, Mary and Joseph, 97–104, and more recently in Brock, ‘Biblical Dialogues in Syriac’, 44–50. Mengozzi and Ricossa, ‘Folk Spontaneity,’ 162. Interestingly, Helen Vendler considers the debate poem to be a lyric subgenre (Poems, Poets, Poetry, 683). Though this may be formally correct, the content and speech acts of the genre align more closely with dramatic poetry. This seems to be the underlaying assumption of classification scheme proposed in Brock, ‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’. Most famously in Ephrem’s dialogue between Death and Satan in the Carmina Nisibena 53, introduced and translated in Brock and Kiraz, Ephrem the Syrian, 155–167.

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soghyāthā are dialogue poems.131 The genre of a soghithā is determined by content (for example, there is a sustained dialogue), speech acts (for example, there is debate from two distinct perspectives), an outer form (for example, the dialogue takes place in alternating stanzas), and an inner form (for example, the ‘dynamic shape’ of a dialogue with raised emotion to resolution).132 Importantly, this type of poetry appears to have been a genre with mass appeal that was used in the earliest period for both profane and sacred songs.133 Baumstark saw in the genre the seeds of a full-blown religious drama— presumably the kind of religious drama that flourished in medieval and early modern Europe—and lamented that it was ‘regrettably never further developed’.134 What would have been lost, of course, was the profound sense of experiencing a genre that has been in continuous use for thousands of years, a genre that bound communities and provoked participation, and which had the capacity to be as playful as it was deeply serious. Moreover, the early Syriac tradition seems to have had reservations about drama as a genre, perhaps explaining the continuity between dialogue poetry and narrative poetry, rather than the development of a more robust genre of dramatic poetry.135 The dialogue poems on Joseph focus in upon and slow down the two most emotionally intense episodes in the narrative, which are Joseph’s encounter with Potiphar’s wife (Texts 15, 16, 17), and his reunion with his brother Ben-

131

132 133

134

135

As Sebastian Brock notes, ‘Almost all poems with a dialogue in alternating stanzas are described [in the manuscripts] as sughyotho, but by no means all sughyotho are dialogue poems’ (Brock, ‘Jacob’s Forgotten Sughyotho’, 45). Earlier in this article (40) Brock gives a valuable summary of the various criteria that have been used by modern scholars to characterize a stanzaic poem (madrasha) as a soghithā. He also notes that the term was far from unproblematic in the early tradition (41–42). See also the useful discussion in Griffin, Cyrillona, 101–106, on the soghithā form in general and the soghithā On the Washing of the Feet, a non-dialogue soghithā, specifically. Drawing from Helen Vendler’s section ‘Classifying Lyric Poems’ in Poets, Poems, Poetry, 110–125. Brock, ‘Jacob’s Forgotten Sughyotho’, 41–42, where he also notes that the genre designation was far from unproblematic in the early tradition precisely because it was also used for profane songs; in fact, the poems are called madrāshē rather than soghyāthā in the manuscripts until the eighth century (pp. 43–44). I am grateful to Philip Forness for this reference. Baumstark, Geschichte, 40 (‘leider nicht zur weiteren Entwicklung gelangten’). One case of Syriac poetry developing into medieval religious drama is discussed in Mahr, Relations of the Passion Plays. Sebastian Brock picks up the theme in his ‘Seeds of Liturgical Drama in Syriac’. Moss, ‘Jacob of Serugh’s Homilies on the Spectacles of the Theatre’. For the broader context see the chapter ‘Christians and the Theater’ in Webb, Demons and Dancers, 197–216, 270–273.

20

introduction

jamin (Text 18). Importantly, the dialogue poems that treat the Joseph narrative depend upon the narrative poems, rather than being direct responses to scripture.136 Arguments found in the narrative poems are reworked and multiplied into the tight dialogue form. The dialogue is thus a kind of formalized attempt to capture the moments of highest pathos or tension in narrative poems, attempts that are, and most likely were, particularly suited to liturgical performance.137 The connections between dialogue and narrative poetry once again point to the tight kinship between these genres.

Reading the Rewritten Bible Reading Between the Gaps Syriac readers saw gaps in the biblical stories.138 Some gaps correspond to the sparseness of the biblical narrative observed by Auerbach in the story of the binding of Isaac. Auerbach saw this sparseness as a feature of the biblical narrative, in which ‘the decisive points of the narrative alone are emphasized, what lies between is nonexistent; time and place are undefined and call for interpretation; thoughts and feelings remain unexpressed, are only suggested by the silence and fragmentary speeches; the whole, permeated with the most unrelieved suspense …, remains mysterious’.139 Other gaps were exposed by specifically Christian theological concerns, or a desire to make the story more dra136

137

138

139

Perhaps the title ‫ܐ‬犯‫ܡ‬焏‫ ܕܡ‬煿‫ܐ ܕܝܠ‬狏‫ܓܝ‬熏‫‘ ܣ‬soghithā of the same memra’ given to Cyrillona’s, On the Washing of the Feet reflects a pre-sixth century understand of the contingent nature of the genre, even though the title does not strictly apply to this particular work (Griffin, Cyrillona, 104–106). The most well-known example is the dialogue between the cherub and the thief. On this dialogue poem see Brock, ‘Dispute between the Cherub and the Thief’; and Mengozzi and Ricossa, ‘Cherub and the Thief on YouTube’. Gaps are understood as ‘a lack of information about the world … an event, motive, causal link, character trait, plot structure, law of probability’ (Sternberg, Poetics of Biblical Narrative, 237, as cited in Ska, “Our Fathers Have Told Us”, 8). Gaps are sometimes resolved in literary texts by analepsis, which is the narrating of a past event at a point in the story that is chronologically later. There are examples of this narrative technique in the Joseph story. In these cases, gaps serve a narrative function, displacing narrative elements, and disaligning story and discourse. For example, the lack of any response from Joseph to his capture and sale in Gen. 37:23–28 is filled by analepsis in Gen. 42.21. This biblical example of analepsis is expanded in its narrative position in the Syriac retellings as discussed in chapter 4 below. Ska differentiates between ‘blanks’, understood as ‘indeterminacies’, and ‘gaps’, which always serve a narrative function, being filled later in the narrative by analepsis (“Our Fathers Have Told Us”, 9). I have combined the two for the sake of simplicity. Auerbach, Mimesis, 12.

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21

matic. These mysterious gaps invite engagement, demanding the attention of the reader, ‘provid[ing] an opportunity for active participation’.140 This opportunity was seized by early Syriac authors. In fact, I agree with Susan Harvey that ‘late antique Syriac writers took profound delight in interpreting Scripture through the elaboration of biblical stories’.141 The results of this active participatory reading and elaboration are found in the retold tale.142 The gaps are filled with tradition and imagination: new scenes, speeches by previously silent minor characters, and additional speeches and internal thoughts of major characters. The whole is often thick with theological or ethical imperatives that demand expansion and response in the act of retelling. But it was also intentionally mimetic. The texts seem driven by a belief that ‘literature was supposed to “represent” life, to provide moral examples to be “imitated”, to provide stylistic “models” to be followed’.143 Thus, details are added, and the characters and their emotional responses are more developed. The work of filling the gaps makes the texts intentionally evocative. As Frances Young observes, ‘It is characteristic of literary texts to draw the reader or audience into their world’. The addition of mimetic details, narrative expansions, and other literary devices help draw in the readers or audience. To what end? Young argues that these literary devices are ‘exploiting emotional identification’, and ‘presenting an image of the world which clarifies understanding of that real world’.144 One of the main differences between literary texts and homiletic texts is that literary texts are indirectly parenetic. They tend to show rather than tell, letting the narrative expansions and narrative recasting do the work of modelling behaviour and refashioning a view of the world.145 Previous scholarship has tended to engage the Syriac Joseph sources at precisely the moments when gaps have been filled and the texts have strayed furthest from the biblical narrative—when some new motif has been absorbed or invented. It is at these moments that the imaginative and admonitory minds of the authors are on full display. The relationships between the sources also become clearer, as borrowed and adapted motifs are set in relief and the novel aspects of individual works are exposed. Moreover, the data that previous 140 141 142

143 144 145

Ska, “Our Fathers Have Told Us”, 13. Harvey, ‘Spoken Words’, 106. I have previously described this phenomenon as narrative exegesis, or direct attempts to resolve problems (fill gaps) in the narrative, which I contrast with forensic exegesis, or direct attempt to resolve problems or cruxes in the text (Heal, ‘Construal and Construction’). Young, ‘Typology’, 36. Young, Art of Performance, 149. Cameron, ‘Flights of Fancy’ engages with the recent turn towards the literary and rhetorical features of early Christian writing.

22

introduction

scholars compiled tracing motifs is still valuable.146 However, the seemingly insatiable concern to spot and chase down recurrent motifs in the Syriac Joseph sources made scholars overlook a great deal of the dynamics of each individual source, and thus of the reception, development, and recreation of this story in the Syriac tradition. Or, in other words, such an approach fails to relate the incorporation of traditional elements to an understanding of the dynamics of a whole text. Instead, tracing motifs should begin by first understanding each text means, and then seeking to understand the significance of why certain motifs entered and persisted in the tradition and the dynamics of how they travelled between texts.147 Method and Assumptions I adopt a simple method to pursue meaning in this study, borrowed from Martin West: ‘I believe that the understanding of many works of literature would benefit from trying to see them more from the author’s viewpoint and paying greater attention to his train of thought and the problems of construction and expression that he faced’.148 The first of these, as I argue above, is genre. As Frances Young observes, ‘Competence in reading literature depends upon accurate genre recognition’.149 When examining a particular work, or a particular scene in the story of Joseph, the genre of the work under examination already answers several questions. A dialogue poem suggests a focus on a specific scene or moment, a desire to slow down the narrative and dwell and reflect on what can be drawn out from the conflict or conversation. A narrative poem focused on a single scene may have different concerns than a narrative poem considering multiple episodes. When examining narrative works, I consider the Joseph story as a sequence of connected episodes. ‘In general’, declares Jean Louis Ska, ‘an episode develops its own complete “micro-plot” within the macro-plot of the larger narrative’.150 Each episode is comprised of a number of scenes, and the main criteria for dividing scenes are ‘change of time, change of locale, change of charac-

146 147

148 149 150

For example, the thirty-three motifs traced in Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 56–84. In describing these two steps, I am adapting the distinction Hirsch draws between ‘meaning’, which ‘refers to the whole verbal meaning of a text’, and ‘significance’, which is ‘textual meaning in relation to a larger context … indeed any context, beyond itself’ (Hirsch, Aims of Interpretation, 2–3). Later in the volume he described meaning as ‘meaning-for-aninterpreter’ and significance as ‘meaning-as-related-to-something-else’ (79–80). West, Hesiod, Work and Days, v–vi. Young, Art of Performance, 14. Ska, “Our Fathers Have Told Us”, 33.

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ters’.151 Once a text has been delimited into episodes and scenes, then it is possible to begin a more detailed analysis of its narrative and rhetorical structure. I examine the Joseph narratives in terms of the presentation of time, the structure of the plot, the work of the narrator, the point of view of the narrative, and the nature of the characters.152 My working assumption is that each text is the result of deliberate and creative actions. A text does not contain everything that an author knew about Joseph, nor is everything that it contains part of a set of traditional motifs and stories. Authors adapted, reworked, borrowed, extrapolated, and created new scenes and characters of their own accord. Authors acted with intention, wrote for a particular audience, in a particular literary genre, and had a particular vision of the figure or life of Joseph and the work that Joseph could perform in their community. These assumptions are substantiated throughout this study. I assume that each text is an ‘exegetical narrative’, to borrow from Joshua Levinson’s analysis of rabbinic midrash. Levinson defines the exegetical narrative as ‘a hermeneutical reading of the biblical story presented in narrative form’ having as ‘its defining characteristic [a] synergy of narrative and exegesis’.153 I am interested in the creation and effects of this synergy. Throughout this study I examine moments when narrative and exegetical imperatives interact, feeding each other, or colliding to produce creative energy. I am especially interested in these seemingly gratuitous moments of narrative flamboyance.154 An exegetical narrative may also be studied as a performance of a given scriptural narrative. This theme is treated usefully in Frances Young’s, The Art of Performance. ‘To perform narrative appropriately’, Young observes, ‘involves retelling the story for the immediate audience’.155 The composition of the audience and performance context of the various Joseph texts is unknown, so little data can be adduced to understand how the audience shaped the performance. However, the corollary—how the text is shaped for an audience—can at least be investigated, not only to understand the nature of the performance but also to infer from such a study data about the implied audience.156 151 152 153 154 155 156

Ska, “Our Fathers Have Told Us”, 33. The terminology in narrative studies varies significantly across studies. I generally adopt the terminology used by Ska, “Our Fathers Have Told Us”. Levinson, ‘Dialogical Reading’, 498. See, for example, the descriptions of Potiphar’s wife’s dress, cosmetics and adornments discussed in chapter 6 below. Young, Art of Performance, 27. Forness, Preaching Christology, 33–53, offers a valuable discussion of the possibilities and limits of considering the implied audience for Syriac homilies. The discussion is usefully divided into ‘audience addressed’ (33–40) and ‘audience invoked’ (41–53).

24

introduction

In the main body of this work, I engage with episodes and scenes from the Joseph story as they are construed in the Syriac sources. Sometimes I work comparatively, looking at a single scene through the eyes of different authors simultaneously. Other times (e.g., chapter 2) I treat each source sequentially, attempting to draw out the character of each source, while also looking for trajectories of influences, which is part of understanding the significance of the sources. All the while, my primary interest is to understand what each author is doing with the biblical story in the context of the tradition that they inherited.

chapter 1

A Survey of the Sources I stood to drink from the cup of Joseph the just, And I drunk and was full, and gladly was I intoxicated by it.1

∵ The story of Joseph is one of the highest literary achievements in the Hebrew Bible.2 Rich in realism, the story presents carefully nuanced characters set in relief by a stark narrative background. From at least the Hellenistic period on, this biblical narrative caught the attention of its readers and was retold and appropriated by authors in the Jewish,3 Christian,4 and Islamic5 traditions. Among early Christian writings, numerous Greek and Latin works refer to the story, and several homilies and poems are devoted entirely to retelling it, in whole or in part.6 The most extensive treatments of the story in the early Christian tradition are, however, found in Syriac literature. 1 Joseph Son of Jacob ii.32–33 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 588). 2 Westermann notes that ‘it is a work of art of the highest order’ (Genesis 37–50, 26). Levenson claims that ‘the story of Joseph in Genesis 37–50 […] is arguably the most sophisticated narrative in the Jewish or Christian Bibles’ (Death and Resurrection, 143). Skinner called the story of Joseph ‘at once the most artistic and the most fascinating of ot biographies’ (Genesis, 438), and was struck by the ‘thrilling human interest’ of the opening of the story (Genesis, 442). 3 For a useful summary of the impact of the Joseph story in later biblical writings, see Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 13–27. For Joseph in Philo, Josephus, and Targumic literature, see Niehoff, Figure of Joseph, and, on Philo alone, Oertelt, Herrscherideal und Herrschaftskritik, and on Josephus alone, Feldman, ‘Josephus’ Portrait of Joseph’; and Feldman, Josephus’s Interpretation of the Bible, 335–373. For Joseph in the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, see Hollander, Joseph as an Ethical Model; Hollander and de Jonge, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs; and Nickelsburg, Studies on the Testament of Joseph. 4 For the story of Joseph in Medieval Europe see Derpmann, Die Josephgeschichte. 5 For a recent reading of the Quranic account of the story of Joseph (Q 12), see Kaltner, Inquiring of Joseph (includes a useful bibliography of the main works on Joseph in the Islamic tradition). For a general survey of Syriac, Arabic, Persian, and Turkish texts on Joseph, see Hilscher, ‘Biblische Joseph in Orientalischen Literaturwerken’. On the Syriac sources for Q 12 see Witztum, ‘Joseph among the Ishmaelites’, and Witztum, Syriac Milieu of the Quran. 6 In addition to the texts introduced in chapter 1, I will also refer to the homily on Joseph by

© Kristian S. Heal, 2023 | doi:10.1163/9789004526969_003

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chapter 1

In this chapter, I attempt to give a comprehensive and systematic overview of the Syriac Joseph sources.7 In each instance, I first provide a succinct bibliographical summary. This clavis-like summary of what is known about each text includes, where possible (and appropriate), the incipit and details of editions, translations, and studies focused on the text in question. For commentaries, or texts including more than just the story of Joseph, the latter is limited to studies focusing on that text’s treatment of the Joseph story or the figure of Joseph. Following this initial overview, I then provide a concise description of the sources in question. Where possible, I analyse the same elements of each source: its genre, contents, distinctive features, authorship, and dating. These descriptions are meant to provide an orientation to the sources rather than a detailed introduction. The character of the sources will come into focus over the course of this study. I first introduce the Peshitta text of the Joseph story (Text 1), followed by three early prose sources and a later-derived prose source (Texts 2–5). I then treat each of the narrative poems and verse homilies that tell the entire Joseph story (Texts 6–10), followed by narrative poems and dialogue poems that treat discrete episodes within the story (Texts 11–19). I then introduce the minor pieces scattered in several later manuscripts that are independent works (Texts 20–26).8 I note two Syriac works on Joseph and Asenath (Texts 27–28), and then, finally, I introduce a collection of Joseph sources in Armenian and Greek that have clear connections with the Syriac tradition (Texts 29–34).

1

Peshitta Genesis 37–50

Edition: Jansma and Koester, Genesis – Exodus. Translation: Morrison et al., Genesis. Bibliography: Lund, ‘Genesis in Syriac’, 537–560; Lund, ‘Pentateuch’, 173–179; Morrison, ‘Introduction’.

Ambrose of Milan, and the series of homilies by John Chrysostom. For references to additional Greek and Latin texts, see Argyle, ‘Joseph the Patriarch’; and Guillaume, ‘Joseph (le Patriarche)’. 7 Previous attempts are found in Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 9–52; Priebatsch, Josephsgeschichte in der Weltliteratur, 136–140; Brongers, De Jozefsgeschiedenis, 16–19; Brock, ‘Dinah’, 222–224; Heal, ‘Reworking the Biblical Text’, 89; Heal, Tradition and Transformation, 14– 80; Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 72–112; and Witztum, ‘Joseph among the Ishmaelites’, 427– 428. 8 Extracts and epitomes are discussed earlier with their respective texts.

a survey of the sources

27

The Peshitta version of Genesis is a second-century translation made from an unknown Hebrew exemplar.9 The resulting Syriac text is a ‘lucid literary translation that was intended to be read without reference to the Hebrew’.10 Thus, although the Peshitta is deployed for text critical purposes,11 it should also be read as the beginning of the story of Joseph in the Syriac tradition.12 It provides the foundational materials from which emerge the abundant variety of Syriac Joseph texts discussed in this chapter. However, it is important to note that the story of Joseph is part of a diverse ‘redactional unity’ in the Book of Genesis, and although the story of Joseph is easily discernible, it is not strictly a coherent literary narrative.13 Nor is the Peshitta version of the story of Joseph ever extracted from the Book of Genesis as a stand-alone narrative.14 These characteristics of the Peshitta version of the Joseph story raise important questions: how did the Joseph story emerge as an independent coherent narrative? What decisions were made about the text in this process? What other narrat-

9

10

11

12

13

14

Morrison, ‘Introduction’, xiii, xvi. Though, of course, scholars, including Morrison, are forced to refer to the Masoretic Text in discussing the translation. The standard introduction to the Peshitta version of the Old Testament is Weitzman, Syriac Version. Morrison, ‘Introduction’, xiv. Morrison praises ‘the elegance of the Peshitta translation of Genesis’ (xvi). It is not clear whether this elegance was achieved in the first instance or is a product of the early revisions of the text in which scribes ‘made slight “improvements” of the text for readability’ (Lund, ‘Pentateuch’, 174). Early Syriac translations tended to be reader-oriented, as established in Brock, ‘Towards a History of Syriac Translation Technique’. Lund (‘Genesis in Syriac’, 558) laments, ‘Far too long has this version been marginalized in the study of the Old Testament, to the detriment of textual and exegetical understanding of Genesis’. This deficit was made up for in bhq (Tal, Genesis). On this volume and the series in general, see Tov, ‘Philosophy of the Biblia Hebraica Quinta Edition’. Morrison is more reserved about the text critical value of the Peshitta (Morrison, ‘Introduction’, xiii– xiv). Lund, ‘Genesis in Syriac’, 537–540, introduces the Peshitta translation, together with the Syrohexapla translation by Paul of Tella (613–617), and the version by Jacob of Edessa (d. 708), citing surviving manuscript witnesses (for the latter two versions) and essential bibliography in the footnotes. Westermann, Genesis 37–50, 22–27, citing p. 25. Westermann observes ‘that we have in chs. 37–50 a Joseph story in the stricter sense (chs. 37 and 39–45, with part of 46–50) and a conclusion to the Jacob story (in ch. 37 and part of chs. 46–50)’ (Westermann, Genesis 37–50, 22). Sarna notes in the introduction to his commentary on the Genesis 37–50 that, ‘The rest of the Book of Genesis is devoted to the story of Joseph—except for the abrupt and puzzling intrusion of the episode of Judah and Tamar (chap. 38) and Jacob’s moving last testament (chap. 49)’ (Sarna, Genesis, 254). The closest analogue is the reading of large portions of the Joseph story during Holy Week, on which see chapter 2 below.

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chapter 1

ive and interpretative sources were in play? These questions will be treated here and in the chapters that follow. What is known about how the Peshitta of Genesis 37–50 was read in the earliest period? Perhaps the best source of information is British Library, Add 14,425 (5b1).15 This manuscript contains a copy of Genesis and Exodus written in 464, and is therefore not only the oldest copy of the Book of Genesis in Syriac, but also the oldest dated biblical manuscript.16 The text of this manuscript contain numerous distinctive early readings, and it is, as Weitzman notes, the one ‘regular unique carrier of old readings’ for Peshitta Genesis.17 Just as interestingly, perhaps, are the paratexts in this manuscript, or the scribal additions that frame the text, including punctuation and section headings, since they offer a window on how the story of Joseph was segmented in fifth-century city of Amid.18 This segmentation suggests the delimitation of narrative units, and also determines the flow and pace of the narrative.19 For example, the opening verses of Genesis 37 are divided into two pericopes (1–8, 9–11), seeking to differentiate, or perhaps create a temporal break between the reaction of the brothers to Joseph and the reaction of his father.20 There are no specific headings for the Joseph story in this early manuscript. The scribe simply ends the Book of Genesis with the note, ‘Creation, the first book, is completed’ (‫ܐ‬狏‫ܝ‬犯‫ ܕܒ‬焏‫ܡܝ‬煟‫ܐ ܩ‬犯‫ ܣܦ‬爟‫)ܫܠ‬. A title is also occasionally found at the head of the page, sometimes just ‘Creation’ (‫ܐ‬狏‫ܝ‬犯‫( )ܒ‬f. 14v, 40v, 50v, 52v), but also, now mostly obscured, ‘First [book] of the Law’ (焏‫ܡܝ‬煟‫]…[ ܩ‬ ‫ܐ‬狏‫)ܕܐܘܪܝ‬, meaning the Pentateuch (f. 46v).21 By the seventh and eighth cen15 16 17 18 19

20 21

The manuscript abbreviations used in this section refer to Peshiṭta Institute, List of Old Testament Peshiṭta Manuscripts, with this manuscript described on page 15. Wright, Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum, 3–5. On the text preserved in this manuscript see Lund, ‘Genesis in Syriac’, 540–543. Weitzman, Syriac Version, 282–284, citing 282. See also Pinkerton, ‘Origin and Early History’. For Amid see Takahashi, ‘Amid’. I give the segmentation below and will refer to it periodically in the following chapters—of course, it deserves to be studied in its own right, but not here: Gen. 37:1–8; 37:9–11; 37:12– 25; 37:26–28; 37:29–35; 37:36; 38:1–7; 38:8–12; 38:13–23; 38:24–30; 39:1–6; 39:7–10; 39:11– 12; 39:13–18; 39:19–23; 40:1–8; 40:9–17; 40:18–19; 40:20–23; 41:1–5a; 41:5b–7; 41:8–13; 41:14– 15; 41:16–24; 41:25–31; 41:32–38; 41:39–43; 41:44–45b; 41:45c–57; 42:1–7; 42:8–28; 42:29–36; 42:37–43:7; 43:8–14; 43:15–25; 43:26–44:2; 44:3–45:1; 45:3–14; 45:15–24; 45:25–46:4; 46:5–7; 46:8–9; 46:10; 46:11; 46:12; 46:13; 46:14–15; 46:16–17; 46:17–18; 46:19–20; 46:21–22; 46:23–25; 46:26; 46:27; 46:28–30; 46:31–47:10; 47:11–22; 47:23–26; 47:27–31; 48:1–7; 48:8–12; 48:13–14; 48:15–20; 48:21–22; 49:1–2; 49:3–4; 49:5–7; 49:8–12; 49:13; 49:14–15; 49:16–18; 49:19; 49:20; 49:21; 49:22–26; 49:27; 49:28–32; 49:33–50:4a; 50:4b–23; 50:24; 50:25–26. See chapter 3 below. However, the margin of this ancient manuscript has now been worn or pared back to the

a survey of the sources

29

turies, three additional paratextual titles oriented readers of the story of Joseph in the Peshitta manuscripts.22 These three titles frame the main structure of the Joseph story as it was received in the Syriac tradition. The first title, ‘When ̈ ‫ܗܝ‬熏‫ ܙܒܢ‬煟‫)ܟ‬, appears prior to Gen. Joseph’s brothers sold him’ (牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ܗܝ ܠܝ‬熏‫ܐܚ‬ 37:1 (7a1f. 11r; 8a1f. 3v). This theme of the sale of Joseph, and the discussion and events prior to and around the sale, became paramount in the retellings of Genesis 37. There is even a retelling that omits the dreams altogether, beginning with Joseph going out to his brothers and the flock (see Text 5 below). It is the sale that epitomizes the betrayal of Joseph, both inasmuch as he was betrayed by his brothers, and that he seems to have been betrayed by his own dreams to imagine a different future for himself. The sale also connects the story of Joseph with the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, discussed in chapter 2 below. Prior to Genesis 39:7 is the title, ‘The trial of Joseph, or his obtaining victory’ (煿‫ܚܢ‬犏‫ ܡܢ‬熏‫ ܕܗܘܝ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ ܕܝ‬煿‫ܢ‬熏‫( )ܢܣܝ‬7a1f. 11v; 8a1 f. 4r). This chapter describes the second descent of Joseph as he is cast into prison from the heights of being Potiphar’s preferred slave. Between these moments Joseph is tested and obtains victory. Precisely the same language is used in the heading to Genesis 22 (‘The trial of Abraham’ [‫ܗܡ‬犯‫ ܕܐܒ‬煿‫ܢ‬熏‫)]ܢܣܝ‬, suggesting that although the noun 焏‫ܢ‬熏‫ ܢܣܝ‬can mean ‘a temptation’, it is probably best translated ‘trial’ in both cases. Doubtless the ‘trial’ of Abraham and of Joseph influenced the understanding of 焏‫ܢ‬熏‫ ܢܣܝ‬in the Lord’s prayer (Matt. 6:13). Finally, in manuscripts of the eighth century and later, the phrase, ‘When ̈ ‫ ܠ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ ܝ‬營‫ ܐܬܓܠ‬煟‫)ܟ‬ Joseph made himself known to his brothers’ (‫ܗܝ‬熏‫ܚ‬焏 from Genesis 45:1 is added as a paratextual title (8a1 f. 6r). This is a favoured moment in Syriac retellings of the Joseph story, and a great deal of narrative time is given to building up the tension prior to this moment, as can be seen in Texts 12, 13, 22, 23, and 25. Interestingly, the earliest manuscript of the memre On Joseph by Balai (Text 6) contains only memra 1 and 8, which treat the sale of Joseph and the episodes immediately preceding Joseph making himself known to his brothers. This manuscript, British Library Add. 12,166, is dated to the sixth century, suggesting that the impetus for the headings that

22

edge of the text block and into it in some places, meaning that other paratexts are doubtless lost. Here I draw on paratextual material from two other early manuscripts of Genesis: Milan, Ambrosian Library, Ms B. 21 f. 11r–15r (cited using the Peshiṭta Institute abbreviation 7a1 with page number) and Paris, National Library Syr. Ms 341, f. 3v–7v (cited using the Peshiṭta Institute abbreviation 8a1 with folio numbers). The final heading, found in 7a1, precedes Jacob’s blessings in Gen. 49: ‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ ܒܢܒܝ‬犯‫ܒ ܕܐܬܐܡ‬熏‫ܐ ܕܝܥܩ‬狏‫ܪܟ‬熏‫‘ ܒ‬The blessings of Joseph that were spoken prophetically’.

30

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are found in the seventh- and eighth-century manuscripts were already well in place, and were probably directly informed by the popular narrative poems on Joseph.

2

Aphrahat, Demonstrations

Edition: Wright, Homilies of Aphraates; Parisot, Aphraatis. Translation: Valavanolickal, Aphrahat: Demonstrations; Lehto, Demonstrations of Aphrahat. Bibliography: Bruns, Christusbild Aphrahats, 118, 173, 196; Heal, ‘Joseph as a Type of Christ’. Little is known of his life, and scholars are even uncertain about his name, yet Aphrahat’s place in the literature is secured by his collection of twentÿ three demonstrations (‫ܐ‬狏‫ܝ‬熏‫)ܬܚ‬, or prose homilies, which he wrote in the Persian empire between 337 and 345.23 The Demonstrations falls into two parts: The first part (1–10) treats aspects of the Christian life, and the second (11–23) engages with the Jews.24 Yet within these two broad categories, Aphrahat treats numerous separate themes with references to hundreds of scriptural passages, especially from the Old Testament.25 In fact, as Coakley notes, scripture ‘is the author’s chief subject matter’.26 Aphrahat exploited his superlative familiarity with scripture artfully, and he is recognized as one of the most important and gifted writers of the early Syriac tradition.27

23

24

25

26

27

Recent discussions of Aphrahat’s name, life, and times can be conveniently found in Pierre, Aphraate, i.33–41, 71–111; Bruns, Aphrahat, i.41–47, 52–56; Valavanolickal, Aphrahat Demonstrations, i.4–10; and Lehto, Demonstrations, 4–22. In an important recent study, Walters argues that this two-volume work is ‘the end product of a two-stage composition’ (‘Reconsidering the Compositional Unity’, citing 51). For recent scholarship on Aphrahat and the Jews see Herman and Rubenstein, Aggada of the Bavli, xix–xxii, and Butts and Gross, Jews and Syriac Christians. On Aphrahat’s use of scripture in general, see Childers, ‘Virtuous Reading’. For Aphrahat’s use of the Old Testament, see the classic text-critical study by Owens, Genesis and Exodus Citations; and Craig Morrison’s four valuable exegetical studies, ‘Reception of the Book of Daniel’, ‘Recasting of Elijah’, ‘Bible in the Hands of Aphrahat’, and ‘Scenes from First and Second Samuel’. Coakley, ‘Syriac Exegesis’, 699. Coakley also notes that ‘demonstration’ is an appropriate title for these treatises since it ‘is actually the word he uses often for a specific point made from scripture’. On the reception of Aphrahat see Van Rompay, ‘Aphrahat, “A Student of the Holy Scriptures” ’.

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31

The Demonstrations can best be described as ‘artistic prose’, full of ‘carefully balanced sentences [that make] abundant use of rhetorical features’,28 such as those that have been examined by Robert Murray.29 One of Aphrahat’s preferred rhetorical devices involved producing a sequence of exemplary figures or events, mainly from the Old Testament, to illustrate a particular example or point.30 In Robert Murray’s study of this device, he classified the material as ‘examples (1) of prayer, (2) of various virtues, (3) of those who were led into sin, (4) of reversals of fortune, [and] (5) of righteous figures who were persecuted’.31 Joseph features prominently in Aphrahat’s lists, particularly in those of category 2, 4, and 5. Other examples of the use of the figure of Joseph fall outside of Murray’s classification system: Joseph is numbered among those whose purity was a perfect fast before God;32 those whom Satan attacked by means of women;33 those who were justified though they did not keep the Sabbath;34 those who, though one, were esteemed more than the many by God;35 and those through whom the Spirit spoke.36 A further development in the hermeneutical functions attributed to Joseph is found in a complex syncrisis or ‘comparison-series’, a development of the simpler list sequence, which Murray refers to as ‘Aphrahat’s favourite party piece’.37 Syncrisis is a rhetorical figure in which one thing is compared with another; it is used of the ‘figure which consists of a repeated simile, […] or of a number of separate comparisons used together’.38 The comparison series is effectively used by Aphrahat to assemble a series of typological connections between Old Testament figures and the life and figure of Jesus.39 Aphrahat’s substantial

28

29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

Brock, ‘Ephrem and the Syriac Tradition’, 363; Brock also observes that though ‘many of [these features] are also found in contemporary Greek kunstprosa’, they are ‘two independent manifestations of the same general phenomena’. Murray, ‘Some Rhetorical Patterns’ and ‘Hellenistic-Jewish Rhetoric’, building on the work of Maude (‘Rhythmic Patterns’) and Haefeli (Stilmittel bei Afrahat). Lists of examples are similarly evident in Greek and Latin Christian authors (Kugel and Greer, Early Biblical Interpretation, 137–140). Murray, ‘Some Rhetorical Patterns’, 111–114. Aphrahat, Demonstration 3.1 (Parisot, Aphraatis, i.101:7–8). Aphrahat, Demonstration 6.3 (Parisot, Aphraatis, i.256:26–257:2). Aphrahat, Demonstration 13.8 (Parisot, Aphraatis, i.557:20–27). Aphrahat, Demonstration 18.3 (Parisot, Aphraatis, i.824:17–19). Aphrahat, Demonstration 21.21 (Parisot, Aphraatis, i.984:11–12). Note how Aphrahat compiles these lists for both admonitory and polemical purposes. Murray, ‘Some Rhetorical Patterns’, 110. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 734. This theme is treated comprehensively in Bruns, Christusbild Aphrahats.

32

chapter 1

series of comparisons between the life of Joseph and of Jesus provide a foundation for the analysis in chapter 2.40

3

Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373), Commentary on Genesis

Edition: Tonneau, Sancti Ephraem Syri in Genesim. Translation: Mathews and Amar, St. Ephrem the Syrian (English); Janson and Van Rompay, Efrem de Syriër (Dutch). Bibliography: Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 10; Brock, ‘Saint Ephrem on Women in the Old Testament’, 40–42; Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 75–98, 272–281; Tamcke, ‘Ephraem’s Joseph’, 212–215. Ephrem is the best-known author in the Syriac literary tradition, famous especially for his lyric poetry (madrashe).41 Ephrem’s lyrics are steeped in biblical language and allusions, typology, and symbols, and yet are often sufficiently didactic to earn the title of ‘Teaching Songs’ in recent scholarship.42 His surviving corpus also includes a substantial number of memre, works in artistic prose, and prose commentaries on Genesis, on Exodus, and on the Diaterssaron.43 The commentary on Genesis survives in a single manuscript, Vatican, Syriac 110, dated to the sixth century. Questions have been raised about Ephrem’s authorship of the Commentary.44 If Ephrem’s authorship is to be accepted,45 40 41

42

43 44

45

Aphrahat, Demonstration 21.9 (Parisot, Aphraatis, i.953:9–957:10). For a general introduction to Ephrem’s poetic vision see Brock, Luminous Eye. On Ephrem’s use of symbols see den Biesen, Simple and Bold. For Ephrem’s use of typology see Griffith, ‘Disclosing the Mystery’. For Ephrem’s use of the Bible in his lyric poems see Wickes, Bible and Poetry. The term is discussed in Wickes, Hymns on Faith, 13 fn. 57, with reference to den Biesen (Simple and Bold, xxii). Den Biesen attributes his use of the term ‘teaching song’ to Palmer, ‘Single Human Being’. Andrew Palmer also inspired Sidney Griffith’s use of the term (‘ “Spirit in the Bread”’, esp. 227; and ‘Syriac/Antiochene Exegesis’, esp. fn. 1). Robert Murray referred to the madrasha as an ‘instructive song’ as early as 1979 (‘Hymn of St. Ephrem to Christ’, 39), and used ‘teaching song’ the following year (‘St Ephrem’s Dialogue of Reason and Love’, 26). I am grateful to Philip Forness for this latter reference. The best guide to the works of Ephrem is Brock, ‘Brief Guide’. Also invaluable is den Biesen, Annotated Bibliography of Ephrem the Syrian. Discussed in Mathews and Amar, St. Ephrem the Syrian, 64. Brock notes that the Genesis Commentary has ‘a strong claim either to be by Ephrem himself, or to represent his teaching or that of his immediate followers’ (‘Ephrem and the Syriac Tradition’, 365). The state of the question up to 2008 is presented in Haar Romeny, ‘Ephrem and Jacob of Edessa’, 537–540. As it is, for example, in Janson and Van Rompay, Efrem de Syriër, 13 fn. 5.

a survey of the sources

33

then the Commentary was probably written in the last decades of Ephrem’s life. Attempts have been made to contextualize the Commentary within the work of the later Antiochene exegetes.46 However, the exegetical context is best seen in the work of Ephrem’s contemporary, the mid-fourth century exegete Eusebius of Emesa, who was a native of Edessa.47 More than half of the commentary is devoted to the first nine chapters of Genesis.48 The coverage of the remaining commentary is uneven, though Ephrem gave most space to the Abraham cycle, the story of Joseph, and the blessing of Jacob. Ephrem began the story of Joseph quickly, almost telegraphically, giving very little space to the scenes of Genesis 37. It seems that he wanted to get Joseph quickly to Egypt, and so gave only a brief recounting of the dreams and the events in the wilderness that led to Joseph’s sale, first to the ‘Arabs’ (焏‫)ܥܪܒܝ‬ and then to Potiphar (33.1–2). Despite the brevity of the paraphrase, Ephrem recrafted the story, adding several interesting details and interpretative asides. He noted that the brothers first hated Joseph because he denounced them to their father (Gen. 37:4); recognized the brothers’ response to the second dream as mocking and providing an explanation for how the Sun and the Moon could worship Joseph (assuming the Moon to be Rachel); and described in a brief pair of comparisons how the brothers mercilessly sold and enslaved Joseph and then proceeded to weep for him in the presence of the Canaanites and composed lamentations for him at home. This latter expansion is particularly curious, and nicely illustrates Ephrem’s willingness to augment the biblical narrative with extrabiblical traditions:49 Without mercy they cast him into the pit in the wilderness, but they wept over him with tears in the house. Naked they sold him to the Arabs, but they wept for him with cries in front of the Canaanites. They threw him in irons, on his hands and on his feet, and sent him on a journey, but they composed songs of lament about him at their leisure.50 The balanced phrases, the word play, the evocative images, the encapsulation of the characters, and the stark comparisons show that Ephrem is both

46 47 48 49 50

Hidal, Interpretatio Syriaca. Janson and Van Rompay, Efrem de Syriër, 21–23. For Eusebius of Emesa, see Haar Romeny, Syrian in Greek Dress. Studied most recently in Kremer, Mundus primus. The only comparable expansions are in Syriac History of Joseph 12.32 and 13.7–10, and Narsai, On Joseph, 361–363, which also record the brothers weeping. Ephrem, Genesis Commentary, 33.2.

34

chapter 1

a lyric poet and expositor. In two brief paragraphs Ephrem epitomizes a narrative, offers exegetical commentary, captures the thrust of the story, and prepares the reader for the narrative tension leading up to the reunion of the brothers. Ephrem assumes that the narrative order of Genesis meant the events of chapter 38 happened ‘after these things’ (爯‫ܪ ܗܠܝ‬狏‫)ܒ‬, and so proceeds next to tell the story of Judah and Tamar (34.1–6). Returning to the story of Joseph, the sojourn in Potiphar’s house is again epitomized succinctly, also with subtle details added, such as the explanation for Potiphar’s wife crying out after Joseph fled, and the reason Joseph did not simply return home at that point (35.1–2).51 The loss of the garment connects this story with the sale of Joseph by his brothers, and Joseph once again passes from one domain to another, and ‘then that calm that was with his master’s servants while he was in his master’s house came with him to the prisoners, while he was confined in prison’ (35.3).52 Once again, the story is epitomized and recast at the same time. Joseph is not simply the beneficiary of Lord’s beneficence (Gen. 39:21) but carries with him a calmness that is extended to those around him. Joseph’s character and attributes continue to be revealed as the narrative progresses. In quick succession dreams are dreamed and interpreted, first in the prison, and then in Pharaoh’s court, resulting in Joseph being exalted to a new status (35.3–6). At this point the narrative turns: Joseph’s status has changed, and Ephrem slows the story down as he narrates Joseph’s journey back through the story’s major interpersonal encounters to the place he began, with his father, and with his dreams fulfilled. First, and surprisingly, Joseph reencounters Potiphar and his wife, prompting fear in the former and a confession from the latter, an encounter which is described in more space than Ephrem dedicated to describing the events in Genesis 39 (35.7–9).53 The famine and Joseph’s preparations are quickly described, though with a narrative aside that further exposes Joseph’s character: When the good years came to an end those of the famine arrived. Joseph took particular care of the orphans and the widows, and every needy person that was in Egypt had no worries [while] in Egypt.54

51 52 53 54

I treat these episodes in Chapters 6–8 below. Ephrem, Genesis Commentary, 35.3: ‫ܗ‬犯‫ ܡ‬狏‫ ܒܝ‬煟‫ܗ ܟ‬犯‫ܝ ܡ‬煟‫ ܗܘܐ ܠܥ̈ܒ‬狏‫ ܗܘ ܕܐܝ‬爯‫ ܕܝ‬焏‫ܢܝܚ‬ .‫ ܗܘܐ‬犿‫ ܐܣܝܪܐ ܐܬܚܒ‬狏‫ ܒܝ‬煟‫ ܟ‬.‫ ܐܣܝܪܐ‬煟‫ ܨܝ‬煿‫ ܐܬܐ ܠ‬.‫ܗܘܐ‬ Discussed in Brock, ‘Saint Ephrem on Women’, 40–42. Ephrem, Genesis Commentary, 36.1.

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35

Again, this rich addition is juxtaposed with a more prosaic exegetical exposition (36.1). This is all so much prelude, however, to Joseph’s interactions with his brothers, which would seem to be Ephrem’s primary interest in the story of Joseph, at least as judged by the space devoted to each episode. Ephrem narrates at length the first journey down to Egypt (36.3–6), the return to Jacob’s house without Simeon (37.1–2), the reluctant return with Benjamin (37.3–7), the feast, and the interrupted return to Jacob (38.1), followed by accusations, fear (38.2–4) and eventual reconciliation (39.1–3), joy in Pharaoh’s court and forgiveness among the brothers (40.1–2), and finally a triumphant journey to bring Jacob and his entire household down to Egypt for a joyful reunion (40.3–6). The narrative is rich, filled with direct and indirect speech, expanded narratives and speeches, exegetical asides and suppositions, with the whole extended series of episodes driven by Joseph’s desire to see his dreams fulfilled. The commentary ends with Jacob’s blessings upon Joseph’s sons (41.1–6), an extended exegetical engagement with Jacob’s blessings upon his own sons, both literal (42.1–15) and spiritual (43.1–11), and a final section on the death of Jacob and Joseph (44.1–3). Throughout the commentary Ephrem writes in a ‘well-considered, artistic prose style’ and uses a variety of rhetorical devises to create a coherent ‘homogenous work’.55 He is certainly writing in the genre of paraphrase, as he declares in his preface,56 but he also uses narrative expansions, strategic omission and other rhetorical practices to create a sophisticated and fluent narrative.57 As Janson and Van Rompay observe, ‘If the text itself does not provide sufficient guidance for a concrete representation of what really happened, or if problems of interpretation arise, different techniques are developed to fill in or eliminate gaps or uncertainties’.58 Yet these interpretative strategies are secondary. The text of the Peshitta is continually present,59 and Ephrem’s exegesis is ‘first and

55 56

57 58

59

Janson and Van Rompay, Efrem de Syriër, 14. ‘We make a brief summary of those things that have been extensively presented by us in the memre and madrashe’ (焏‫ܪܫ‬煟‫ܡܪܐ ܘܒܡ‬焏‫ ܕܒܡ‬爯‫ܝܠܝ‬焏‫ܐ ܠ‬狏‫ ܒܟܪܝ‬爯‫ܝ‬煿‫ ܠ‬爯‫ ܚܢ‬爯‫ܝ‬煟‫ܥܒ‬ ̈ 爯‫ܢ ܠ‬煟‫ܬܐ ܥܒܝ‬焏‫)ܒܣܓܝ‬. Ephrem, Genesis Commentary, prooemium, 1. See chapter 3 below for a discussion of the exegetical strategies used in Ephrem’s treatment of Genesis 37:1–4. Janson and Van Rompay, Efrem de Syriër, 14: ‘Wanneer de tekst zelf onvoldoende houvast biedt voor een concrete voorstelling van wat er echt gebeurd is, of wanneer er zich interpretatieproblemen voordoen, worden verschillende technieken ontwikkeld om leemten of onduidelijkheden aan te vullen of weg te werken’. Janson and Van Rompay, Efrem de Syriër, 24–25. Their translation also carefully represents biblical citation in italics.

36

chapter 1

foremost based on a detailed reading of the Bible text, with constant attention to the context of events and to parallel passages in other places in the Bible’.60

4

Syriac History of Joseph (cavt 113; S 1229)

̈ ‫ ܐܡ‬爯‫ܪܬܐ ܘܬܪܬܝ‬焏‫ ܚ‬爯‫ ܢ̈ܫܝ‬爯‫ ܬܪܬܝ‬煿‫ ܠ‬焯‫ܒ ܢܣ‬熏‫ ܝܥܩ‬焏‫ܒܢ‬熏‫ܛ‬. Incipit: ‫ܬܐ‬煿 Mss: London, British Library Oriental 2316 (17/18th C), f. 176r–182v; Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 74/Sachau 9 (1695), f. 24r–52v; London, British Library Oriental 4528 (1737), f. 3v–26r; Kirkuk, Chaldean Archdiocese 213 (18th C), f. 345v–377r; Oxford, Bodleian Syriac f. 12 (c. 18th C), f. 70v–116v;61 Tehran, Chaldean Church of St. Joseph 8 (18th C), f. 182v–214r; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale Syriaque 309 (1869), f. 10r–51v;62 Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 623/olim Alqosh, Notre-Dame des Semences 213 (1869), q. 14.1–18.3;63 ‘Aynkāwah, Congregation of the Chaldean Daughters of Mary Immaculate 13 (1875), f. 1r–45v;64 Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 606 (1882);65 Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 938 (1894), q. 7. 12–10. 10.66 Edition: Weinberg, Geschichte Josefs; Link, Geschichte Josefs. Translation: Heal, ‘Syriac History of Joseph’. Bibliography: Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 12–13; Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 102–103; Heal, ‘Identifying the Syriac Vorlage’; Witztum, ‘Joseph among the Ishmaelites’, 427 and passim; Heal, ‘Syriac History of Joseph’; Butts et al., ‘Notes on the History of Joseph’. 60

61 62 63

64 65 66

Janson and Van Rompay, Efrem de Syriër, 14: ‘Zijn uitleg is allereerst gebaseerd op een minutieuze lectuur van de bijbeltekst, met steeds aandacht voor de context van de gebeurtenissen en voor parallelle passages op andere plaatsen in de Bijbel’. Uncatalogued. Paper manuscript of 183 folios acquired in 1980. Chabot, ‘Manuscrits syriaques’, 256–258; Nau, ‘Notices des manuscrits syriaques’, 281. Vosté, Catalogue de Notre-Dame des Semences, 81–82; Haddad and Isaac, Syriac and Arabic Manuscripts, 288–290. Catalogue lists a History of Joseph as the eleventh item. Wilmshurst provides a valuable concordance to the catalogue numbers of the Dawra, Chaldean Monastery collection and olim Alqosh, Notre Dame des Semences (Ecclesiastical Organization, 373–375). Unless indicated otherwise, references to the Dawra, Chaldean Monastery manuscripts come from Ugo Zanetti and Claude Detienne, Bibliotheca Hagiographica Syriaca, now fully incorporated into Syriaca.org. I have not inspected any of these manuscripts, nor does the catalogue always aid in the identification of the contents. The manuscript is imperfect, wanting leaves at the beginning. Text starts at Syriac History 12.9. I am grateful to David Calabro for bringing this manuscript to my attention. Haddad and Isaac, Syriac and Arabic Manuscripts, 280. Catalogue describes a manuscript of 41 leaves containing only the Syriac History of Joseph. Haddad and Isaac, Syriac and Arabic Manuscripts, 414–415. Catalogue lists History of Joseph attributed to Basil of Caesarea as sixth item.

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37

The Syriac History of Joseph is an anonymous prose narrative composed in the late fourth or early fifth century.67 The narrative begins with a description of Joseph’s family and ends with his death (Gen. 37, 39–47, 50). In a subtle act of aesthetic recognition (or, a bold act of adaptation), the story of Judah and Tamar (Gen. 38) and the account of Jacob’s blessings (Gen. 48–49) are removed from the narrative. The Syriac History of Joseph thus launches the story of Joseph in the Syriac tradition as a separate textual entity and discursive unit. The Syriac History of Joseph opens with an enumeration of Jacob’s family, and then begins the story with the giving of the coat, which inspires envy in the brothers (1.1–8). The biblical narrative is followed closely as the dreams are related (2.1–11), but then the narratives begin to diverge, both by expanding ideas already in the text of Genesis and by inserting entirely new material. For example, in Genesis 37:11, Jacob’s reaction to the dreams is that he ‘kept the ̈ sayings’ (焏‫ܓܡ‬狏‫ ܗܘܐ ܦ‬犯‫ܗܝ ܢܛ‬熏‫)ܘܐܒ‬, whereas in the Syriac History Jacob ‘perceived that [the] wickedness [of the brothers] increased against Joseph’ (3.1). Thus, in the Syriac History, Jacob fabricates an excuse to send the brothers out to the flocks in order to protect Joseph (3.5–8), rather than having the brothers simply go of their own accord, as is suggested by Genesis 37:12. This subtle recasting of the biblical narrative is pervasive, stemming from the author’s careful and attentive reading of the narrative, and from an awareness of extrabiblical traditions.68 Jacob’s concern about the long absence of his sons is given as the reason for sending Joseph out to visit them—a structurally necessary expansion given Jacob’s awareness of the brothers’ nefarious plans for Joseph. The visit is preceded by a blessing from Jacob and accompanied by angelic guidance in the form of the old man in the wilderness (4.1–11). Reuben and Judah seek to protect Joseph from the brothers (5.1–9), but Joseph is still attacked, mocked, and thrown into the pit, where he prays for deliverance (6.1–12). Reuben coordinates with Judah to protect Joseph, leaving as part of his plan (7.1–6). When the merchants arrive, it is the brothers who suggest selling Joseph against Judah’s wishes. Judah negotiates the sale and promises that he and his father will come down to Egypt and bring Joseph back (8.1–13). The sale is completed, and the document of slavery signed by all the brothers assures the merchants that Joseph is indeed a slave (8.14–20). Reuben laments when he finds Joseph gone (9.1–8). The brothers come up with a plan to fool Jacob, but ‘not one of the sons of Leah wanted to go in, so

67 68

Heal, ‘Syriac History of Joseph’, 92. Heal, ‘Syriac History of Joseph’, 88–92.

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Dan and Asher, the sons of the handmaidens, took (the coat) and entered in before Jacob’ (10.5). The delivery of the coat (11.1–4) provokes Jacob’s laments, including an extended lament to Rachel (12.1–32). Jacob is inconsolable, and the depth of his sorrow even causes the brothers to weep and fear divine retribution (13.1–11). The extent of his grief is described with splendid pathos in the last lines of this scene: And Jacob was clothed with sackcloth upon his body for twenty years. And the coat of Joseph was spread out before him, and every day he would wet it with his tears and would cling to it and kiss it.69 With a change of scene, Joseph is now in Potiphar’s house, which prospers under his management (14.1–7). The episodes with Joseph and Potiphar’s wife are considerably expanded with a series of exchanged speeches embedded in descriptive narrative leading up to the final confrontation (15.1–17.17). The outcome is, however, the same: Joseph is falsely accused and imprisoned (18.1–7). The scene changes to the prison, and the dreams of his two fellow prisoners are recounted, interpreted, and fulfilled with little narrative expansion (19.1–20.4), as are the scenes recounting Pharaoh’s dreams, the summoning of Joseph, the interpretation of the dreams, and Joseph’s subsequent elevation to a position of power in Egypt (21.1–23.11). At this point, however, there is a long and detailed narrative expansion describing the reaction of Potiphar and his wife to Joseph’s newly exalted position. It includes an exchange of letters between Potiphar’s wife and Joseph, which results in Joseph frankly forgiving Potiphar and his wife, calling them father and mother, sending them gifts, and elevating Potiphar in Pharaoh’s court (24.1–27.10). This scene is also found in other early sources, but it received its fullest and earliest articulation here in the Syriac History of Joseph. Joseph’s preparations for the famine (28.1–9) lay the groundwork for the dramatic tension of the brothers’ visits to Egypt and the moment of anagnorisis and reconciliation. The brothers’ first journey to Egypt follows the biblical outline, with some interesting additions, such as Joseph sending a Hebrew speaking servant to write down the brothers’ conversations while they were imprisoned (29.1–33.16). The second journey is expanded in several ways, including Joseph using the cup to ‘divine’ the seating order of the brothers, and Benjamin asking Joseph to use the cup to divine Joseph’s whereabouts (34.1–38.7). The final scenes before Joseph’s self-revelation are extended further,

69

Syriac History of Joseph 13.11–12.

a survey of the sources

39

including the surprising return of the merchants and Joseph using his cup to ‘divine’ the misdeeds of the brothers (39.1–45.21). At the moment when the brothers are ‘sprawled in front of him like dead men’ (46.1), Joseph finally reveals his identity. After the reunion, Joseph presents his brothers to Pharaoh (47.1–3) and then they return to Canaan to tell Jacob that Joseph is still alive (48.1–17). Once Joseph is reunited with Jacob, all Egypt rejoices with Joseph and his family (49.1–50.8). Joseph talks with Jacob and presents him to Pharaoh, who offers him good lands to settle in (51.1–52.15). The story ends with the death of Jacob and Joseph (53.1–54.9) The narrator in the Syriac History of Joseph is almost hidden. He shows rather than tells, using direct narrative and extended direct speech to present the story of Joseph as a self-existing narrative. This narrative style is entirely unlike the commentary of Ephrem and sets another pole between which subsequent authors can operate. The narrative is expanded but follows the biblical account closely. Gaps that are filled later in the narrative (analepsis) are rare in the Joseph sources, but a nice example is found in the Syriac History when Potiphar explains the reason for placing Joseph in charge of his entire household only later in the narrative (24.5). Most gaps are, however, filled in sequence with narrative expansions. The success of the Syriac History of Joseph is, as I have said elsewhere, found in great measure in the creation of a ‘fluent freestanding composition woven from the biblical narrative, imaginative and interpretative expansions, and other contemporary traditions’.70

5

History of Joseph the King (S 1631)

̈

Incipit: ‫ܢ‬熏‫ܥ‬犯‫ܗܝ ܕܢ‬熏‫ܪ ܥܣܪܐ ܒܢ‬煟‫ ܫ‬煿‫ܪܥ‬焏‫ܒ ܠ‬熏‫ܪ ܕܐܬܐ ܝܥܩ‬狏‫ ܒ‬爯‫ܘܡ‬ 焏‫ܥ̈ܢ‬. ms: Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale Syriaque 234 (1192), f. 238v–261r.71 Edition and Translation: Heal, History of Joseph the King (in preparation). Bibliography: Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 110. This anonymous prose narrative is a substantially reworked West Syriac recension of the Syriac History of Joseph (Text 4). The terminus ante quem for the work

70 71

Heal, ‘Syriac History of Joseph’, 87–88. Zotenberg, Manuscrits orientaux, 182–185, no. 27. A new description is available online at http://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc1025670 (with a link to images). For additional notes on this manuscript see Minov, ‘Friday Veneration Among Syriac Christians’, 198–199.

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is 1192, which is the date of the only manuscript witness. It is not impossible that this recension was composed for this collection, which contains other unique recensions.72 The most extensive revisions are found in the reworking of Genesis 37 and 39 and include an entirely different opening for the story. The identification of the man in the wilderness (Gen. 37:15) as a partridge hunter suggests that the composer of this text was also aware of the text Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah (Text 11).

6

Balai, On Joseph (S 931)

̈ ‫ ܠܚܣ‬焏‫ܚܣܡ‬. Incipit: 牯‫ܓ‬狏‫ ܡܣ‬焏‫ ܠ‬爯‫ ܕܝ‬焏‫ ܚܣܝܡ‬:‫ܫ‬焏‫ ܡܒ‬焏‫ܡ‬ Mss: London, British Library Additional 12166 (6th C), f. 103r–123v (memra 1 and 8);73 London, British Library Additional 14590 (8th or 9th C), f. 61v– 67v (memra 2);74 Mardin, Chaldean Cathedral ms 411 (1545/6), f. 94v–176r (memre 1–8);75 Vatican, Syriac 469 (1804), f. 1v–123r (1–10 ln. 800);76 Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 634 (1877; memre 1–10);77 Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 610 (1881; memre 1–10);78 Cambridge, University Library Additional 2817 (1883; memre 1–10);79 Alqosh, Chaldean Diocese of Alqosh 60 (19th C), f. 1v–171v (memre 1–10 ln. 800); London, British Library Oriental 4078 (19th C), f. 1r–141v (mutilated at beginning and end).80 72

73 74 75

76 77

78 79 80

W.E. Barnes notes that the story of the Maccabean martyrs found in Paris Syr. 234f. 274r– 280v has also been partially revised ‘to give the story a Christian colouring’ (Bensley and Barnes, Fourth Book of Maccabees, xxvi). This text is also only known from Paris Syr. 234. Wright, Catalogue of the Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum, 674–676 (item 5.a and 5.b). Wright, Catalogue of the Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum, 752–754 (item 2.h). Previous known as Diyarbakir 76. See Baumstark, Geschichte, 63 fn. 1; Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 5. Memra 1 (f. 94v–108v); memra 2 (f. 108v–116v); memra 3 (116v–120v); memra 4 (120v–125r); memra 5 (125r–137r); memra 6 (f. 137r–143v); memra 7 (143v–157r); memra 8 (157r–176r). Lantschoot, Inventaire de Manuscrits Syriaques, 8–9, item 1. Haddad and Isaac, Syriac and Arabic Manuscripts, 299–300; olim Alqosh, Nortre-Dame des Semences, numbered as ms 208 in Vosté, Catalogue de Notre-Dame des Semences, 77– 78; and ms 101 in Scher, ‘Notice sur les manuscrits Syriaque’, 62–63. Haddad and Isaac, Syriac and Arabic Manuscripts, 281; olim Alqosh, Notre-Dame des Semences, numbered as ms 307 in Vosté, Catalogue de Notre-Dame des Semences, 111. Wright, Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts Preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge, 661–662. The manuscript was copied in Tel-Kaif. Margoliouth, Descriptive List, 24. Other manuscripts listed by Baumstark (Geschichte, 63 fn. 1) and Phenix (Sermons on Joseph, 1–7) are now lost or unavailable, such as the Maronite College manuscript. See following footnote for further details. Ugo Zanetti and Claude

a survey of the sources

41

Edition: Overbeck, S. Ephraemi Syri (memra 1 and 8); Bedjan, Histoire complète; Lamy, Sancti Ephraem Syri Hymni et Sermones (Joseph cycle, with Latin translation, in iii, col. 249–640; iv, col. 791–844); Assemani, Memre treʿsar da-ʿbidin l-tubana Mar Afrem ʿal Yawsef kina.81 Bibliography: Duval, Syriac Literature, 290; Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 13–35; Phenix, Sermons on Joseph;82 Phenix, ‘Sermons on Joseph’; Phenix, ‘Wert des Genesis-Kommentars’; Tamcke, ‘Ephraem’s Joseph’, 208–212; Witztum, ‘Joseph among the Ishmaelites’, 427; Heal, ‘Construal and Construction’. This extensive multi-episode narrative is considered by some to be an epic poem.83 The poem, divided into twelve memre comprised of over 10,000 sevensyllable lines, has been praised for its literary merit and is, arguably, the finest narrative poem in all of Syriac literature. Rubens Duval declared it ‘one of the best compositions of its kind’.84 Baumstark similarly said that it ‘belongs among the best works of old Syriac poetry’.85 The poem was written in the fifth century, possibly in Edessa.86 Balai’s poem treats the entire story of Joseph from the dreams to the death of Jacob (Gen. 37, 39–47, 50). Memra 1 begins with a prologue on the dangers

81

82 83 84

85 86

Detienne included the following manuscripts in the sources gathered for their Bibliotheca Hagiographica Syriaca (now fully incorporated into Syriaca.org): Alqosh, nds, cod. 308 (catalogued by Vosté, but missing in Haddad and Isaac); Siirt, Chaldean Church, cod. 109 (single memra); Dayr al-Sharfeh, Rahmani 194 (Sony 199); Baghdad, Chaldean Patriarchate = ms olim Mossoul, Patriarcat chaldéen, cod. 67; ms olim Mossoul, Patriarcat chaldéen, cod. 68; ms Dayr az-Zaʿfaran, cod. pap. 70 (Dolabany). I have been unable to verify any of these references. Overbeck’s edition is based on London, British Library Additional 12166. Bedjan based his edition on Mardin, Chaldean Cathedral ms 411 (olim Diyarbakir 76, as noted by Baumstark, Geschichte, 63 fn. 1), and two other manuscripts, one from Alqosh and one from Tel-Kaif, neither of which can now be identified (Baumstark, Geschichte, 63 fn. 1, and contra Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 6—see note to Text 14 below). Phenix has promised a new critical edition and English translation. See the useful reviews by Coakley ( jeh), Bruns (zac) and Watt ( jss). Including Duval (Syriac Literature, 290), Baumstark (Geschichte, 62), and Brock (‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’, 140). Poirier calls it a ‘roman fleuve’ (‘Sermon pseudo-éphrémien’, 121). Duval, Syriac Literature, 290 n. 16. Poirer, in contrast, thinks it ‘nothing more than a Christianised and turgid re-writing of the biblical account, which focuses more on rhetoric than tradition’ (‘Sermon pseudo-éphrémien’, 121: ‘Ceux-ci ne sont rien d’autre qu’une réécriture christianisée et ampoulée du récit biblique, qui doit plus à la rhétorique qu’à la tradition’). Baumstark, Geschichte, 62: ‘zu den besten Werken altsyrischer Poesie gehört’. Of course, this is a highly contentious assertation at this stage of the study of early Syriac literature. Nonetheless, the author seems to work in the same literary tradition as Ephrem’s Commentary on Genesis, and the Acts of Thomas. See below for Duval’s assertion that the work belongs to the school of Edessa.

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of envy and Balai narrates the events from the dreams to the sale of Joseph. In memra 2, Balai describes how the brothers take the coat to their father Jacob, prompting Jacob to mourn. The memra ends with an epilogue that reprises the events of memre 1–2. Memra 3 opens with a prologue extoling the virtues of honesty, and then Balai tells how the merchants take Joseph down to Egypt and sell him to Potiphar. Balai has Joseph bids farewell to the merchants and is placed in charge of Potiphar’s household. In memra 4, Balai describes how Potiphar’s wife desires Joseph and attempts to seduce him, eventually trying to rape him. Joseph flees, but Potiphar’s wife lies to her servants. Potiphar hears the false accusation and confines Joseph to prison. In memra 5, Balai narrates the experience of Joseph in the prison, where he hears and interprets the dreams of Pharaoh’s servants. Later, Pharaoh has dreams and calls Joseph to provide an interpretation. In memra 6, Balai narrates how Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams and is raised to a state of honour. Potiphar’s wife hears of Joseph’s preferment and fears reprisal, but she never sees Joseph. Joseph coordinates the storage of food during seven prosperous years. The famine begins, and Joseph provides for the Egyptians, for which he is praised. The memra ends with a brief epilogue. In memra 7, Balai recounts the first journey of the brothers to Egypt, and memra 8 he narrates the second journey, which is made with Benjamin. In memra 9, Balai describes the moment when Joseph reveals his identity to his brethren. The brothers return to Jacob in memra 10, and Jacob journeys down to Egypt and is reunited with Joseph. The memra ends with a brief epilogue offering a prayer for the author. In memra 11, Balai opens with a prologue containing a prayer for enlightenment, and he then treats the death of Jacob. In memra 12, Balai narrates the scene when the brothers petition Joseph not to remember their sin. This twelve-memre structure does not, however, appear to be original. The presence of distinct prologues and epilogues suggests that even if written in twelve memre this poem was originally conceived by Balai in four parts corresponding to the present memre 1–2, 3–6, 7–10 and 11–12.87 If the poem was originally written in four parts, then the division into twelve memre would have happened by the sixth century since London, British Library, Additional 12166 contains memre 1 and 8 as distinct memre. The poem’s profound beauty has been somewhat obscured by authorship questions, which may be summarized as follows: the earliest manuscript, which contains memre 1 and 8, attribute authorship to Balai.88 Other early witnesses 87 88

As noted in Näf, Syrische Josef-Geschichte, 14–15, and discussed in Phenix, Sermons of Joseph, 187–203, and Tamcke ‘Ephraem’s Joseph’, 210–212. London, British Library, Additional 12166 (Wright, Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the

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43

are anonymous, but all other manuscript witnesses attribute the work to Ephrem. It is likely that this attribution resulted from the later habit of referring to the seven-syllable metre as the metre of Ephrem and is probably the reason for several works being misattributed to Ephrem.89 Solomon of Basra accepted this traditional attribution in the thirteenth century.90 The modern editors, Bedjan and Lamy, followed the bulk of the evidence and argued for Ephrem’s authorship of the cycle.91 Duval believed that the poem ‘most likely belongs to the School of Edessa rather than to St. Ephrem himself’.92 Baumstark applies Ockham’s razor to the fact that the work is attributed to Balai ‘by the oldest textual evidence’. For Baumstark, ‘the very fact that the connection of a lesser-known name [Balai] with th[is] metric form is even suggested, makes it even more probably that this is a plausible tradition’.93 Andrew Palmer has recently reprised this argument by observing that ‘the attribution to Balai is more credible, because it seems unlikely that such a poem would

89

90

91

92

93

British Museum, 674–676). Balai, On Joseph I and viii appear between memre by Isaac of Antioch and Jacob of Serugh. The manuscript also contains works by Ephrem, Basil of Caesarea, and the sayings of Xystus, Bishop of Rome. For example, several works written in seven-syllable metre attributed to what may be several different Isaacs are also attributed to Ephrem. In Mathews, Manuscript Works of Isaac (unpublished draft), the following memre are attributed to both Isaac and Ephrem in the surviving manuscripts: On Silence (Br1 24); On the Vigil of Monks (Lamy, Sancti Ephraem, iv.207–215); On Humility (Br1 42); On Solitaries, Mourners, and Hermits (Br1 45); On the Humility of the Brethren (Br1 51); On Humility (Br1 83); On All the Deceased ii (Br1 107); On the Coming of the Lord (Br1 134); On the Perfection of the Brethren (Br1 137); On those Who Come for Instruction (Br1 206); On Deceased Priests and Deacons (Br1 240); On all the Deceased iii (Br1 258); On the Love of Learning (Br1 264); On the Deceased (Br1 286); On the Deceased i (Br1 291); On the Deceased (Br1 506). In defence of his brevity in treating the story of Joseph, Solomon protests that ‘because many have caused the story of the blessed Joseph to be written at length—even the blessed Mor Ephrem wrote his story in twelve memre, including everything that happened to him from his childhood until his death, and another memra on the translation of his bones—we have turned aside from the writing of the story at length, lest we depart from the goal we have set ourselves in gathering together this collection’ (Budge, Book of the Bee, Text p. 熟‫)ܡ‬. Lamy, Sancti Ephraem, iii, 249–250; Bedjan, Histoire complète, v–xii. More recently, an edition of Balai, On Joseph was published by Paul Assemani in Jounieh, Lebanon. This 1941 volume includes all 12 memre in serto script, with a facing Arabic translation. Duval, Syriac Literature, 290. Duval may have had in mind a more coherent and robust literary ‘school’ than is currently assumed. On the ‘schools’ in Edessa in the late-fourth and fifth century, see Becker, Fear of God, 64–68. Baumstark, Geschichte, 62–63: ‘und gerade die Tatsache, dass die Verknüpfung mit dem minder berühmten Namen mit Rucksicht auf die metrische Form sich nicht nahelegte, muss für sie in erhöhtem Masse den Charakter glaubhafter Tradition wahrscheinlich machen’.

44

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be attributed to anybody other than Ephraim, unless it was written by Balai’.94 Robert Phenix’s recent work on this poem simply claims the work for Balai of Qenneshrin without adding any new data to the authorship arguments. In fact, no one has adduced any evidence to connect this work with the known corpus of Balai of Qenneshrin. Nor have there been any attempts to connect this work with other seven-syllable narrative poems in the surviving corpus.95 Moreover, the sparse evidence for the early transmission of narrative poetry suggests that a good deal of authorship knowledge was lost in transmission.96 Thus, for the present, Sebastian Brock’s judgement that the work’s ‘true author remains uncertain’ needs to suffice.97 I do, however, refer to the author of this narrative poem as Balai, while acknowledging the accompanying uncertainty.98 This Balai is the author of one of the finest works of Syriac literature, yet that attribution is entirely forgotten after the sixth century. Where the name Balai is remembered in the Syriac poetic consciousness is with respect to the five-syllable line—a line used in narrative poetry by the late fourth-century poet Cyrillona, but not in any surviving early poem attributed to Balai. There is also a Balai of Qenneshrin, who is the author of five madrashe on Aqaq, Bishop of Beroea (Aleppo), and a madrasha on the dedication of a new church in Chalcis (Qenneshrin).99 I am not convinced that it is prudent to conflate the Balai who authored this epic Joseph poem with the Balai known for writing in five syllable lines, or even with the historically placeable Balai of Qenneshrin.100 In this study, I will thus confine my understanding of the poet Balai to what can be garnered from this particular poem.

94 95 96

97

98

99 100

Palmer, ‘Influence of Ephraim’, 85, n. 3. For example, with the memra On Job attributed to Ephrem (Bedjan, Homiliae selectae, v.180–202). I have in mind the question to Jacob of Edessa (d. 708) regarding the identity of the author(s) known as Isaac (Brock, Brief Outline, 34), and to George, bishop of the Arab Tribes (d. 728) regarding the identity of Aphrahat (Brock, Brief Outline, 51). Brock, Brief Outline, 25. This opinion is repeated in other recent work, as in this 2004 statement that, ‘Uncertainty also surrounds the authorship of an epic cycle in twelve books on the patriarch Joseph’ (Brock, ‘Ephrem and the Syriac Tradition’, 364). Most recently (2012), Brock observes that the work was composed ‘either by Ephrem himself or by Balai, a poet of the following generation’ (Treasure-house, 104). Moreover, it seems important for a text to have an author if it is to be meaningfully absorbed into the literature. Pseudonymous texts tend to be unfairly marginalized, unless they acquire special status, such as with the Book of Steps. Brock, ‘Balai (early 5th cent.)’, 53. Phenix was unable to marshal any arguments for making this explicit connection in his chapter on the authorship of this poem (Sermons on Joseph, 14–31).

45

a survey of the sources

Balai’s poem is characterised by how he pushes away from many of the trajectories set by other texts in the Joseph tradition. There is a nod towards Joseph’s role as a type of Christ, for example, but his function as an exemplary man is more important. Potiphar’s wife is brought back into the narrative, but to none of the adulation she finds in the Syriac History, nor does she even find here the curt forgiveness that she receives in Joseph Son of Jacob. Rather she becomes a cautionary tale, a sinful woman who is left to whither in the harsh sunlight of her own guilt, shame, and anxiety. It seems clear that Balai wrote with constant reference to the Syriac tradition, and was anxious to correct, or simply ignore, some of the more extravagant developments, while employing others in dramatic ways the better to convey his own vision of Joseph and the message that can be drawn from his life. Where Balai does shine, moreover, is in the poet’s gift of imagining episodes in scripture. I give numerous examples later in this study of Balai’s ability to see and script ‘things not described’ in the biblical narrative demonstrate the unique artistry of the author of this cycle.101 The intellectual strength and artistic vigour of this author is sufficiently evident throughout the work that it is likely that it was this, just as much as the name of Ephrem that later became attached to the work, that convinced Solomon of Basra that he need not attempt to include the story in his compilation of biblical traditions.

7

Narsai, On Joseph (S 1748)

̈

̈

Incipit: 焏‫ܢ‬焏‫ ܟ‬爏‫ܘܩ ܒܫܒܝ‬熟‫ ܕܐܚ‬營‫ܬܢ‬犯‫ ܩ‬焏‫ܢ‬焏‫ ܟ‬狏‫ܪܚܡ‬. Mss: London, British Library Oriental 5463 (1893), f. 129a–137b;102 Tehran, Neesan 1 (1896), pp. 145–153;103 Baghdad, Chaldean Patriarchate 69 (1896, 1898), f. 317a–333a [Lost];104 Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 491/olim Alqosh, Notre-Dame des Semences 161 (1898), q. 29, f. 4–q. 30, f. 9;105 San Francisco (1901), i.691.16–725.106

101

102 103 104 105 106

In Hymns on Paradise, v.5, Ephrem described entering Paradise in his mind and wandering ‘amid things not described’ in scripture (cited from Brock and Kiraz, Ephrem the Syrian, 7). Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 119–122. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 129–132. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 132–135. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 137–140. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 143–146. The genuine memra by Nar-

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Edition: Mingana, Narsai, 2.265–288.107 Translation: Heal, Narsai, On Joseph (in preparation). Bibliography: George, Narsai’s Homilies on the Old Testament, 210–234; Ibrahim, Doctrine christologique de Narsai, 199–200; Mingana, “E saranno benedetti”, 247–251; Heal, Tradition and Transformation, 74–80; Heal, ‘Narsai and the Scriptural Self’; Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 67–68. Narsai (d. c. 500) can no longer be called a neglected figure in Syriac studies,108 since a not insignificant amount of work has been, and is currently being, devoted to him.109 The main contours of his life are well known110 and based on reasonable documentation.111 His life spanned the entire fifth century. He became the principal teacher of the School of the Persians in Edessa, and when that school was closed, he reportedly founded and led the School of Nisibis until his death.112 The surviving corpus113 of 82 verse homilies has been delineated114 and progress has been made in identifying and weeding out spuriously attributed texts.115 Of the 77 undisputed verse homilies, 18 have been edited in

107 108 109 110

111

112 113 114

115

sai on Joseph is inserted between this manuscript’s copy of Text 9 and Text 11, which are normally contiguous in East Syriac manuscripts. The manuscript basis of this edition is not known. Brock, ‘Published Verse Homilies’, 279. The standard description of the corpus is now, Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai. Most recently, Butts et al., Narsai: Rethinking his Work and his World. The following are the main overviews, given here in chronological order: Mingana, Narsai, 5–9; Baumstark, Geschichte, 109–113; Tisserant, ‘Narsai’; Vööbus, History of the School of Nisibis, 57–121; Gero, Barsauma of Nisibis, 60–72; Gignoux, Homélies de Narsaï, 1–5; McLeod, Soteriology of Narsai, 1–30; Frishman, Ways and Means, iii, 1–6; Bettiolo, ‘Syriac Literature’, 456–458; Van Rompay, ‘Narsai’; Butts, ‘Narsai’s Life and Work’. Chapter 31 of the Ecclesiastical History of Barḥadbeshabba gives a life of Narsai (Nau, L’histoire, 588–615; Becker, Sources, 47–72). Narsai’s leadership is described in the Cause of the Foundation of the Schools (Scher, Cause de la fondation des écoles, 383–387; Becker, Sources, 150–152). On the school of Nisibis see Becker, Fear of God. It is likely that there were once more than 300 memre. See Frishman (Ways and Means, iii, 6), who summarizes the sources for this statement. Mingana, Narsai, 26–31; Macomber, ‘Manuscripts of the Metrical Homilies’; Brock, ‘Published Verse Homilies’; and now, most comprehensively, in Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai. Most recently Frishman (Ways and Means, iii, 11–15), who, further to the suggestions of Alphonse Mingana and McLeod, considers memre 15, 30, 35, 43, and 60 as spuriously attributed.

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critical editions and a further 38 appear in Mingana’s fine two-volume 1905 edition,116 which included Narsai’s verse homily on Joseph.117 Narsai’s narrative poem on Joseph treats in 808 twelve-syllable lines118 the story of Joseph as found in Genesis 37:3–36, and 39:1–46:30. In the proem (1– 54) Narsai’s ‘vibrant first-person discourse of wonder’119 is on full display as he considers the ‘marvellous spiritual deeds’ of the biblical just ones (1–24) and investigates the chain of transmission that led from Abraham to Joseph (25– 54). Narsai then turns to a long reflection on the knotty problem of favouritism arising from Gen. 37:3 (55–150).120 This introductory section will not submit to straightforward analysis since there is such interconnectedness among Narsai’s ideas and themes that his memre are difficult to dissect into discrete sections.121 He circles around ideas and his transitions between themes are polyvalent, relying on deliberate ambiguity, pointing both forward and back, both into one problem and out to another adjacent. There is often more going on than first meets the eye. Thus, when Narsai draws attention to the just ones, he

116

117

118

119 120 121

This edition has been the mainstay of Narsai scholarship for over a century. There are, however, some problems with it, among which is the fact that the manuscript basis is not clear (on which see Connolly, Liturgical Homilies, xi–xii; and more recently, Jansma, ‘Narsai’s Homilies on Creation’, 213). Perhaps the more serious flaw stems from Mingana’s tendency to excoriate or modify unacceptable passages, on which see Connolly, Liturgical Homilies, 5 n.1, 14 n.1, 20 n.1. On Mingana’s later work and manuscript collection see Heal, ‘Notes on the Acquisition History’. European scholars who have written on the Syriac Joseph traditions seem only to have been aware of the memre wrongly attributed to Narsai (Texts 9 and 11). This may simply be a function of where the works were published and how extensively they were distributed: Mingana’s edition was published at the Dominican Press, Mosul, apparently in a small print run with limited distribution in Europe and North America (Coakley and Taylor, ‘Syriac Books’, 104), whereas Bedjan’s edition was twice publishedjkuh by Harrassowitz in Paris and Leipzig and certainly distributed more widely. Brock was the first to mention Narsai’s memra on Joseph in connection with Syriac narrative poetry (‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’, 137). Or, 403 couplets, and two half-couplets, or single lines (Narsai, On Joseph 699 [M ii.285], 788 [M ii.287]). The missing halves of these two couplets are not found in London, British Library Oriental 5463. Becker, ‘Mar Addai Scher’, 24, where Becker also usefully identifies the deployment of a ‘rhetoric of inspired experience and authorial autonomy’ in Narsai’s proems. I examine this problem in chapter 3 below. Frishman, ‘Style and Composition’, 288: ‘At a certain point one is aware that the poet has moved on to a new thought but it is hardly ever possible to indicate precisely which stiches constitute the end of one section and the beginning of another. It is perhaps more realistic to speak of sections of narration and transition, the latter often comprising eight or more stiches’.

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is not simply praising the great patriarchal line that began with Abraham, or establishing the value of biblical archetypes, nor is he only looking forward to Joseph’s triumph over the temptation of Potiphar’s wife. Rather, Narsai is carefully constructing a response to explain Jacob’s favouritism, which, in characteristic manner, he raised by using direct question to highlight this problematic behaviour. After this meditative proem, Narsai transitions into the mode of a conventional narrative poem, recreating a dramatized Joseph narrative interspersed with exegesis and excurses. He tells, in order, the story of Joseph’s dreams, incorporating his most creative exegesis (151–226); how Joseph is sent to his brothers (227–230); how the brothers’ fume, attack, and throw Joseph in a pit (231–268); Joseph’s response (269–272); the arrival of the merchants and the sale of Joseph (273–327); how the blood-spatter coat is presented to Jacob (328–372); the merchants’ experience with Joseph (373–384); Potiphar’s purchase of Joseph (385–402); the temptation in Potiphar’s house (403–466); the false accusation and Joseph’s imprisonment (467–488); Joseph’s experience in prison and the interpretation of dreams (489–520); Pharaoh’s dreams and their interpretation (521–602); Joseph’s elevation, famine, and relief (603–620); the brothers’ first journey to Egypt (621–664); the brothers’ second journey to Egypt (665–713); and the reuniting of brother and brother (714–753); and father and son (754– 790). The poem concludes with an epilogue in praise of Joseph that gestures back to the themes in the proem (791–808). The long narrative portion of the verse homily offers a unique glimpse of Narsai engaging with the broader Syriac tradition, arguably part of the allusive ‘traditions of the schools’ that Barḥadbeshabba presents as the third component of Narsai’s intellectual heritage.122 Though much good work has been done in evaluating the extent of Narsai’s dependence upon Ephrem and Theodore of Mopsuestia, it is the study of his homily on Joseph that grants a view of how Narsai engages with a broader set of Syriac texts. Thus, in drawing typological connections and in construing Potiphar’s wife, Narsai is without doubt engaging with other sources beyond Ephrem. Some he follows benignly, though with others he wrestles, reworking them in his own image. The dominant impression that emerges, however, is of an independent mind selecting, rejecting, augmenting, and extending sources and motifs in a dynamic and creative process.

122

Scher, Cause de la fondation des écoles, 382–383. Discussed by Frishman in Ways and Means, iii, 39–41.

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Jacob of Serugh (451–521), On Joseph (Ten Memre)

̈

Incipit ( first memra): 焏‫ܢ‬焏‫ܘܢ ܟ‬煿‫ܘ ܟܠ‬狏‫ ܐܨܛܒ‬煿‫ ܕܒ‬焏‫ܐ ܡܫܝܚ‬犯‫ܦ‬熏‫ܫ‬. Edition: Akhrass and Syryany, 160 Unpublished Homilies, i.493–579. Translation: Heal, Jacob of Sarug’s Homilies on Joseph (in preparation). Bibliography: Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 42–52; Heal, ‘Note on Jacob.’ Extracts 1. Taken from memra 1.47a–99b Incipit: ‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ ܡܠܦܢ‬焯‫ܘܐ ܬܣ‬熏‫ ܡܠ‬焏‫ ܗܪܟ‬爯‫ܗܐ ܡ‬ Mss: Vatican, Syriac 543 (18th C), f. 62r–64r. Bibliography: Heal, ‘Note on Jacob’, 219. 2. Taken from memra 2.22a–159b (106-line epitome) Incipit: 焏‫ܗܝ ܘܐܬܐ ܠܥܠܡ‬熏‫ܗܝ ܪܚܡ‬熏‫ܐ ܕܐܪܙܐ ܕܫܠܚ‬犯‫ܡ‬ Mss: Birmingham, Mingana Syriac 546, f. 85–86.123 Bibliography: Heal, ‘Note on Jacob’, 219. Jacob of Serugh was a poet-theologian,124 exegete,125 bishop, and the most prolific writer of verse homilies (memre) in the Syriac tradition.126 His memre (he reputedly authored as many as 760) were composed invariably in twelvesyllable lines, which metre carries his name in the West Syriac tradition.127 Many of these memre survive in sixth century manuscripts. He also wrote prose homilies (turgome), lives of saints, letters, and madrashe.128 Jacob was educated at the school of the Persians in Edessa, and the influence of Theodore of Mopsuestia is evident in some of his works.129 However, he rejected the dyophysite views of his teachers and turned to Ephrem the Syrian for exeget-

123 124 125

126

127 128 129

For the provenance of this manuscript see Heal, ‘Notes on the Acquisition History’, esp. 33. Papoutsakis, ‘Formulaic Language’. The exegetical focus of Jacob’s work was recognized in his own lifetime, as can be seen from the brief notice in the Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite that mentions that Jacob composed ‘many homilies … on passages of scripture’ (cited with bibliography in Forness, Preaching Christology, 4). For Jacob’s life and works see Baumstark, Geschichte, 148–158 (§24c) and, most recently, Brock, ‘Ya‘qub of Serugh’, 433–434, and Forness, Preaching Christology, 4–9. This paragraph on Jacob expands upon Heal, ‘Jacob of Serugh’. All known homilies are now published, primarily in Bedjan, Homiliae selectae; and Akhrass and Syryany, 160 Unpublished Homilies. For the latter, which include soghyāthā, see Brock, ‘Jacob’s Forgotten Sughyotho’. Brock, ‘Ya‘qub of Serugh’, 433.

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ical and theological inspiration.130 He was largely unconcerned with Christian polemics, despite being a confessed anti-Chalcedonian, but he did respond directly to Jewish exegetical and theological claims, whether real or imagined.131 The majority of Jacob’s homilies effusively expound scripture, or celebrate the native Syriac saints and martyrs. His memra on Ephrem suggests a selfconsciousness about his own literary and theological heritage.132 The fact that he promoted the poetry of his contemporary Simon the Potter,133 and exerted influence on Romanus, as is evident in his Greek kontakia,134 suggests an active concern for the cultivation of the literary tradition and the significance of his place within that tradition. His prolific oeuvre was continuously copied and collected, as the abundant surviving manuscripts attest.135 His works were translated into Armenian, Arabic, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Georgian.136 Jacob’s cycle of ten homilies On Joseph is considered an epic poem by Baumstark.137 The cycle certainly has scope—it is comprised of almost four thousand twelve-syllable lines, and it deals with a grand theme. But Jacob’s cycle lacks the kind of fidelity to the recreation of the primary narrative that is found in the three multi-episode Joseph texts that perhaps deserve to be called epics (Text 6, 9 and 10).138 Instead, I classify this cycle as a multi-part verse homily treating Genesis 37, 39–46. Thus, Jacob’s cycle is the only example in the Syriac tradition of preaching rather than narrating the story of Joseph.139 Memra 1 of the cycle On Joseph treats Joseph’s upbringing and the dreams (Gen. 37:2–11). The homily opens with a proem on the beauty of Christ shining through Joseph (i.1–23). Jacob of Serugh is not only eager to show how

130 131 132 133 134 135 136

137 138 139

Jacob’s literary context is best seen in Papoutsakis, Vicarious Kingship. For Jacob’s theology see Bou Mansour, Théologie de Jacques de Saroug. On Jacob’s Christology in historical context, see now the important work in Forness, Preaching Christology. On Jacob and the Jews see Albert, Homelies contre les Juifs, 10–23. Amar, Metrical Homily on Holy Mar Ephrem. Baumstark, Geschichte, 158 (§ 24 g). Brock, ‘From Ephrem to Romanos’; Papoutsakis, ‘Making of a Syriac Fable’. Amply documented in Vööbus, Handschriftliche Überlieferung. For Armenian, see Mathews, ‘Jacob of Serugh, Homily on Good Friday’, and Hilkens, ‘Armenian Reception’. For Arabic, see Butts, ‘Christian Arabic Transmission of Jacob of Serugh (d. 521)’, and Butts, ‘Diversity in the Christian Arabic Reception of Jacob of Serugh (d. 521)’. For Coptic, see Suciu, ‘Sahidic Version’. For Ethiopic, see Witakowski, ‘Jacob of Serugh’. For Georgian, see Pataridze, ‘La version géorgienne’. Baumstark, Geschichte, 151. As noted in Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 47. This may be why Näf said that ‘the publication of the long poem would hardly be worthwhile’ (Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 43: ‘die Herausgabe des langen Gedichtes sich kaum lohnen würde’).

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Joseph’s life and actions typify Christ, as do his predecessors, but argues that the splendour and beauty attributed to Joseph is really Christ shining through him. Jacob begins the story by contrasting Joseph’s upbringing ‘in the spiritual orders’ of his father with his older brothers growing up in pagan Harran (i.24–36). Joseph’s father loved him ‘because of the beauty of the Son of God that rested upon him’ and he made a coat for him (i.37–41). This favouritism arouses envy in the brothers (i.42–47), and a great deal of reflection on the theme of envy by Jacob, both in general (i.42–82), and with respect to Joseph’s brothers (i.83–113). The author then turns to Joseph’s dreams. The first dream is evocatively retold (i.114–133), and then expounded typologically (i.134–183). The second dream is retold, with a focus on the envy aroused by the dreams and the anger of the brothers (i.184–209). Jacob closes the homily by resuming his mediation on the dominant theme of envy (i.210–221). Memra 2 tells about Joseph being sent out to visit his brothers, and the brothers’ treatment of him when he reaches them (Gen. 37:12–24). After a brief proem (ii.1–3), Jacob describes the transmission of the image of the Lord through the generations until Jacob, and how Joseph was the most fit to bear the image next (ii.4–30). The episodes of Jacob sending Joseph to his brothers (ii.31–44), Joseph arriving in Shechem and his continued search (ii.45–50), and Joseph reaching his brothers (ii.51–62) are interwoven with typological observations. Jacob then focuses on the types of the crucifixion evident in Joseph visiting his brothers (ii.63–82), and the ways that Joseph was unlike Christ (ii.83–97). Jacob argues that Reuben’s attempt to save Joseph was the reason Moses reinstated Reuben’s inheritance, which had been lost because Reuben slept with his father’s concubine (ii.98–117). Jacob then returns to Joseph as a type of Christ, discussing the stripping of Joseph and its types (ii.118–135), Joseph’s silence and its types (ii.136–148), and Joseph in the cistern and its types (ii.160–175). The latter two episodes are interrupted by Jacob addressing the brothers directly (ii.149–159). Memra 3 describes Joseph in the cistern, the sale of Joseph, and the delivery of the bloodied coat to his father (Gen. 37:25–34). The author imagines Joseph in the cistern and sees Christ there too (iii.1–11). Jacob then considers the types present in the brothers mocking Joseph within the cistern (iii.12–25). At this point, the ‘mystery of the Son’ visits Joseph in the pit to comfort him (iii.26–38). Then the merchants arrive (iii.39–41), and Judah advises that they sell Joseph (iii.42–54). Jacob then explores the types evident in Joseph going down to Egypt to be a slave (iii.55–79), and in the brothers bloodying Joseph’s coat (iii.80–103). Hardly is the coat in the hand of Jacob (iii.104–105) before the author returns once again to the theme of envy (iii.106–122). Joseph’s father receives and recognizes the coat (iii.123–132), prompting the author to ask how

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Israel could have been deceived (iii.133–151). Jacob concludes the homily by exploring how the mourning of Joseph’s father depicts the Father mourning for his Son (iii.152–175). In memra 4, Joseph goes down to Egypt with the merchants and is sold into Potiphar’s house, which prospers under his care.140 Potiphar’s wife sees Joseph and pursues him relentlessly, eventually accosting him in an inner room (Gen. 39:1–12). Jacob opens the homily by observing how Joseph and his fathers before him were types of the apostles, since they were also sent from place to place by God (iv.1–15). Joseph is sent to Egypt to teach holiness (iv.16–22). As a slave, Joseph is a model to those in slavery, a theme that Jacob explores in connection with its types (iv.23–54). At this point, Jacob introduces the contest with Potiphar’s wife, together with its types (iv.55–63). Joseph rebuffs the woman’s attacks (iv.64–67), succeeding where others, such as Samson and Adam, had failed (iv.68–73). The angels watch Joseph overcome in this contest (iv.74–95). Jacob now dramatizes the encounter with an exchange of dialogues, beginning with Joseph (iv.96–101). Potiphar’s wife counters (iv.102–107) and Joseph responds (iv.108–116). Potiphar’s wife ventures again to convince Joseph (iv.117–122), and Joseph responds once more (iv.123–130). The conflict continues daily (iv.131–140), and Jacob explores both how Joseph was able to resist (iv.141–157), and the types of the contest (iv.158–163). The homily ends with the attack in the inner room and Joseph’s flight (iv.164–170), which inspires wonder in the spectating angels and demons (iv.171–176). Memra 5 tells how Joseph overcame sin, but still suffered being falsely accused and thrown into prison (Gen. 39:12–20). Jacob begins by resuming the theme of how Joseph resisted Potiphar’s wife, focusing on his love of God and his watchfulness (v.1–18). This prompts a paraenetic aside on the importance of watchfulness (v.19–31). After noting how Joseph resists, avoids, and escapes (v.32–40), Jacob calls on the audience to be filled with wonder at what they have heard (v.41–43). Joseph escapes Potiphar’s wife, leaving his clothes (v.44–52), prompting a meditation on Joseph’s nakedness (v.53–59). Joseph moves from one contest to another (v.60–65), being now wrongfully accused by Potiphar’s wife, first to the household (v.66–69), and then to her husband (v.70–81). Jacob then explores the Christological types of the unjust accusations (v.82–99). Potiphar is angry (v.100–101) and sends Joseph to prison, prompting a further exploration of the types found in this episode (v.102–128). Jacob concludes the homily with a discussion of God’s treatment of the just ones 140

No mention is made of Judah and Tamar. In Jacob’s On Tamar, he notes that ‘Moses the scribe set the story of Tamar like a jewel in his book’ (Brock, Treasure-house, 92, ln. 147– 148).

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(v.129–148) and the place of suffering in the path of instruction (v.149–159), and a summary of how God had disciplined Joseph (v.160–171). The exordium notes the boundless richness of the story (v.172–174). In memra 6, Joseph hears and interprets dreams in the prison, but is forgotten by the butler. Nonetheless, Pharaoh’s dreams prompt the need for Joseph to interpret them (Gen. 40:1–41:14). The proem compares telling the story of Joseph with painting the sun (vi.1–4) and continues this theme by reflecting on the boundless image of the Son that Joseph bore because ‘the son of God set his testimony in his servant Joseph’ (vi.5–12). Jacob then turns to the subject of the homily, beginning with describing how Joseph discovers that Pharaoh’s butler and baker are troubled by dreams (vi.13–21) and asks them to tell them to him (vi.22–28). Jacob then draws out the typological connections between Joseph and the two servants in prison and Jesus and the two criminals on the cross (vi.29–59). Joseph is given power of life and death in his interpretation of the dreams (vi.60–71). Joseph interprets the dreams (vi.72–81) but nonetheless remains in prison until the appointed time (vi.82– 86). Jacob meditates on the significance of this period of waiting, offering observations about Joseph’s age and its types (vi.87–97), and how Joseph in prison was like a seed waiting to germinate (vi.98–107). It is Pharaoh’s dreams that bring Joseph out of obscurity (vi.108–110), prompting Jacob to reflect on the role of dreams in advancing the Hebrews among the nations (vi.111–132). Jacob returns to describing Pharaoh’s dreams (vi.133–141), reflecting on how the failure of anyone else to interpret them opens the way for Joseph (vi.142–154), and suggesting why it was necessary for Joseph to come after the sorcerers had failed (vi.155–161). The time has finally arrived for Joseph to leave the prison (vi.162– 165), which inspires Jacob to conclude the homily by using the experience of Joseph to comfort the oppressed (vi.166–176). Joseph interprets the dreams in memra 7, resulting in his promotion and being honoured (Gen. 41:15–44). Jacob opens the homily by reflecting on how the power of the Son in Joseph enabled him to rule over hidden and revealed things (vii.1–23). Jacob then addresses the audience and proposes first to speak in a literal sense about the dreams and then in a spiritual sense (vii.24– 30), which he does in the following homily. The literal rendering begins with Pharaoh telling Joseph that he has had dreams that no one can interpret (vii.31–33). Joseph responds by emphasizing his dependence on the Lord for the interpretation (vii.34–40). Pharaoh relates his dreams (vii.41–44), and then Joseph interprets them and counsels Pharaoh (vii.45–61). Joseph is elevated and honoured (vii.62–79), prompting a long reflection on the connection between leadership and self-mastery learned through affliction (vii.80–119).

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Joseph prepares for the famine (vii.120–133), and Jacob concludes the homily by reflecting on the lasting value of Joseph’s wise leadership (vii.134–155). Memra 8, the shortest homily, is devoted to Jacob’s spiritual interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams. Jacob opens the homily by observing how the mystery of the Son supported Joseph (viii.1–6). The spiritual interpretation that he offers is both Christological and allegorical. For Jacob, ‘the crucifixion reveals all the hidden mysteries’ (viii.11), which means that prior to the coming of Christ there was no way for Joseph to understand the spiritual meaning of Pharaoh’s dream (viii.7–16). Jacob then interprets the dream, suggesting that the river is the human world, with each successive generation represented by the annual cycle of floods (viii.17–23). The abundance and famine represented in the dreams teaches about the variation in the world, and points forward ultimately to the abundance found in the Son (viii.24–33). Jacob then turns to the tropological meaning, emphasizing that this life is the time to gather goodness, especially from the abundance found the sacramental body of Christ, in preparation for the famine of death (viii.34–56). Jacob returns to the biblical narrative at the end of the homily, noting how the arrival of the famine increases Joseph’s fame in the world (viii.57–63). According to Näf, memra 9 simply gives a ‘narration of the two journeys of the brothers, with a few personal additions by the poet’ (Gen. 41:57–45:15).141 This memra is certainly much more like a narrative poem than the other homilies in the cycle. More attention is paid to the continuity of the narrative, there are more imagined speeches, and the addition of narrative expansions heightens the dramatic effect and fills in narrative gaps. However, there are also substantial homiletic asides, and Christ is ever-present beneath the surface of the story of Joseph. If his audience were not convinced already, Jacob reminds them at the opening of this homily that it is impossible for him to speak briefly about Joseph because of the richness of the Christological types (ix.1–9). Jacob picks up where he left off in memra 8 and describes how the world comes to Joseph for food (ix.10–14), including the sons of Jacob (ix.15–19). The brothers see Joseph’s glory and majesty and bow down before him (ix.20–37). Joseph recognizes them and, in the interest of seeing his dreams fully fulfilled, accuses them of being spies, which they deny (ix.38–56). In the previous section, Jacob engages with the uprightness of the brothers, and he now offers a long excursus on this theme, tackling the question

141

Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 46: ‘Erzählung der beiden Reisen der Brüder, mit wenigen eigenen Zusätzen des Dichters’.

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of how those whose wicked acts bring about good results are to be judged (ix.57–107). Returning to the narrative, the brothers plead their innocence, but are imprisoned (ix.108–116), prompting a brief excursus on changing fortunes (ix.117–121). Joseph releases all but one of the brothers and orders that they be sent home with provisions (ix.122–125). The brothers, talking among themselves, see the imprisonment of Simeon as retribution for their treatment of Joseph (ix.126–140), prompting a brief aside on how guilt condemns the individual (ix.141–146). Joseph overhears the brother’s conversation and weeps (ix.147–153). He sends them home, telling them to return with Benjamin. On their journey home, they are disturbed to find their money returned in their baggage (ix.154–158). Arriving home, the brothers tell their father about their journey (ix.159–166). The prospect of sending Benjamin to Egypt distresses him (ix.167–173). Reuben tries to reassure Jacob, offering his own sons as surety (ix.174–178). Providence is at work (ix.179–182), so despite Jacob’s reluctance, necessity drives him to send Benjamin back to Egypt with the brothers to acquire more food (ix.183–198). Jacob of Serugh pauses his narrative for a moment to remind his audience that the story of Joseph is ‘a great endless sea’, which he can only describe summarily (ix.199–201). Diving in again, Jacob describes how the brothers return to Egypt (ix.202–207) and are invited to dine with Joseph, which makes them afraid (ix.208–221). The audience is reminded again of the changing fortunes they are witnessing (ix.222–225), as the brothers enter Joseph’s presence with gifts and offerings (ix.226–228). Joseph has compassion for his brothers and weeps privately (ix.229–240). He seats his brothers in order (ix.241–244) and talks with them about their lost brother (ix.245–252), all the while he sits among them without them knowing (ix.253–255). At the feast, Joseph gives Benjamin the greater portion (ix.256–258). Joseph sets up the moment of anagnorisis by sending the brothers home, with his cup planted in their luggage (ix.259–266). The brothers are journeying home rejoicing, when Joseph’s head of household overtakes them, making accusations of theft (ix. 267–272). The brothers respond, pleading their innocence (ix.273–287). The bags are searched, and the ‘stolen’ cup is found with Benjamin (ix.288–293). The brothers are angry with Benjamin (ix.294–301), but Benjamin protests his innocence (ix.302–311). The brothers return to face Joseph (ix.312–317). Judah speaks up, saying that they are all guilty and should all be punished, not just Benjamin (ix.318–323). Joseph responds that only Benjamin will be enslaved (ix.324–326), prompting Judah to plead for Benjamin’s freedom for the sake of his father (ix.327–344). Hearing Judah’s plea, Joseph is moved and makes himself known to his brothers (ix.345–354). The brothers are afraid, but Joseph comforts them (ix.355–366), and weeps with Benjamin

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(ix.367–368). Jacob observes that the lack of retribution was a sign of Joseph’s greatness and natural authority (ix.369–372). Jacob concludes the homily with a long homiletic aside on how Joseph is only a type and shadow of Christ (ix.373–454). Memra 10 treats the reuniting of Jacob and Joseph (Gen. 45:4–46:30). In the opening of the memra, Jacob once again reminds the audience of the impossibility of plumbing the depths of the story of Joseph (x.1–12). Jacob then turns to Joseph’s virtuous attributes (x.13–17), emphasizing his kindness to his brothers at their reunion (x.18–29). Joseph’s statement that ‘for your sake, the Lord sent me to Egypt’ (x.27) prompts a discussion of the relative implications of the brothers selling Joseph and the Lord sending Joseph to Egypt (x.30–40). The narrative resumes with Joseph sending his brothers to fetch Jacob (x.41– 54). The brothers return home and inform Jacob that Joseph is alive (x.55–63), and Jacob hurries to go to Egypt to be reunited with his beloved (x.64–67). The author is reminded at this point of the judgement decreed upon the house of Abraham that his seed would be enslaved for four-hundred years (Gen. 15:13–14), and retells this episode, thus reframing the journey of Israel and his whole household to Egypt (x.68–101). Through this new frame, Jacob of Serugh describes how Joseph prepared the way for the entry of his father’s family into slavery (x.102–106), how Jacob hastened to lead his family into slavery (x.107–121), how Pharaoh was unaware that he was receiving slaves (x.122–132), and how the children of Israel sold themselves into slavery when they sold Joseph (x.133–142). The narrative resumes with a description of Jacob’s vision at Beer-sheba (x.143–155). Arriving in Egypt, Jacob is finally reunited with Joseph (x.156–164). The last words of Jacob are a long soliloquy on why he can now die (x.165–181). Jacob of Serugh brings this homily, and the entire cycle, to a conclusion with reflections on the suffering and comfort of Jacob and Joseph (x.182–204) and a brief exordium giving thanks and blessings to God (x.205– 206). Jacob retells the story of Joseph primarily in third-person narrative poetry. It is descriptive, maintaining tight control of the story by rarely letting the characters speak for themselves. He makes frequent gestures to the biblical text. The metrically convenient phrases, ‘as it is written’ (焯‫ܝ‬狏‫ ܕܟ‬焏‫ )ܐܟܡ‬and ‘as you have heard’ (‫ܘܢ‬狏‫ ܕܫܡܥ‬燿‫)ܐܝ‬, appear more often in Jacob’s memre on Joseph than in any of the other sources, the latter perhaps suggesting that Jacob (or the later reader) is in dialogue with the lectionary readings.142

142

For the former, see On Joseph i.13, 59, 176, 217; ii.45 (variant reads ‫ܘܢ‬狏‫)ܕܫܡܥ‬, 71, 167; iii.53; v.158, 171; x.150. For the latter, see i.159; ii.44; iii.67; x.46.

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Jacob almost reverses the narrative emphasis of the Joseph story as compared with the previous complete retellings. For Balai and in Joseph Son of Jacob, more narrated time is devoted to the episodes between Joseph’s exaltation in Egypt and his reunion with his father. For Jacob, these scenes are treated almost perfunctorily. His homiletic asides are restrained as he hurries along to finish the narrative in the ninth memra. Throughout the cycle, narrative expansions are almost entirely replaced by homiletic asides that rejoice in the significance of the story, especially its typological significance. As Johns Konat observes, ‘The most important technique used by Jacob of Serugh to interpret the Old Testament is typology. He considers the literal meaning of a text, explains it in detail, and then proceeds to explain the spiritual meaning in most cases. Only rarely does he remain in the literal sense’.143 Jacob cannot resist making typological connections between Joseph and Jesus. These are far more numerous and subtle than those produced by his predecessors and contemporaries. Nor does he gather them into a single comparison series but pauses to celebrate the typological moments. For example, when Jacob gives Joseph a long-sleeved coat, he ‘made sleeves for the long garment because of his love, that he might represent in his son the great son of God’.144 I will treat this vital and pervasive emphasis further in chapter 2. Jacob also adds interesting narrative details and expansions, such as his discussion of Joseph’s upbringing as compared with his brothers in pagan Harran (i.27– 30). Narsai and Balai emphasize Joseph’s early righteousness, but neither of them draw the connection between the brothers’ upbringing in Harran and their moral formation. This observation is a reminder that, despite Jacob’s love of the spiritual reading, he is always mindful of the literal meaning of the text. Jacob seems to be influenced primarily by Balai. Several complete phrases are even absorbed directly, being recast to accommodate the metrical change. For example, Balai’s couplet, ‘Joseph slept and saw in his dream, that he had become lord over all’ (爯‫ ܟܠ‬爏‫ܐ ܗܘܐ ܥ‬犯‫ ܕܡ‬:煿‫ܐ ܒܚܠܡ‬熟‫ ܘܚ‬牯‫ܤ‬熏‫ ܝ‬燿‫)ܕܡ‬, is recast in Jacob as ‘The servant slept and saw in his dream that he had become a lord’ (‫ܐ ܗܘܐ‬犯‫ ܕܡ‬煿‫ܐ ܒܚܠܡ‬熟‫ܐ ܘܚ‬煟‫ ܗܘܐ ܥܒ‬燿‫)ܕܡ‬.145 Jacob particularly liked Balai’s seven-syllable phrase ‘the freeborn son who became a slave’ (犯‫ܒ‬ ‫ܐ‬煟‫ܪܐ ܕܗܘܐ ܥܒ‬焏‫)ܚ‬.146 This phrase appears only once in Balai’s epic poem, but it is used seven times in Jacob’s homily cycle, with an additional syllable

143 144 145 146

Konat, ‘Typological Exegesis’, 121. On Joseph, i.39. Balai, On Joseph i.555–556 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 23); Jacob, On Joseph i.184a. Balai, On Joseph viii.1598 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 252).

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to fit the metre, most frequently ‫‘ ̇ܗܘ‬that’.147 This phrase is particularly interesting because it appears earlier in the Acts of Thomas, suggesting another link between the Acts of Thomas and the Syriac Joseph corpus.148 This connection is significant not just because ‘Works that aim to become classic frequently refer to earlier classic works by quotation or allusion’.149 Rather, it contributes to a picture of Jacob’s literary culture that can only be built by patient philological inquiry.150 The memre on Joseph by Jacob of Serugh were, until recently, only available to European scholars in the incomplete and imperfect copy found in Vatican, Syriac 117. Several manuscripts of the complete cycle are now available thanks to the work of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library.151 And in 2017 the editio princeps of this cycle appeared in the two splendid volumes of Jacob’s hitherto unpublished memre edited by Akhrass and Syryany. I cite from this edition, giving the memra and couplet number, and, where necessary, adding a/b to designate a line within the couplet.

9

Joseph Son of Jacob (S 1300, 1340)

Incipit: 焏‫ܘܢ ܢ̈ܒܝ‬煿‫ܐ ܕܟܠ‬犯‫ܟ‬熏‫ ܘܒ‬焏‫ ܪܫ‬焏‫ܫ‬熏‫ ܡ‬燿‫ܬܐ ܠ‬. Mss: East Syriac: Baghdad, Archbishopric of the Church of the East 45 (1647), f. 1v–59r;152 Mosul, Dominican Friars 302 (1723), f. 1r–59r; Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 59/Orient. quart. 802 (early 18th C), f. 1v–41r;153 Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 58/Sachau 219 (late 18th C), f. 2v–54v; Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 490 (1879);154 Cambridge, University Library Additional 3538 (1882), f. 1v–47r; Tel-Keppe, Qalb Al-Aqdas Chaldean Church 117 (1885), 1–56; Vatican, Syriac 498, f. 274r–301v;155 Leiden, Rijks-

147

148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155

Jacob, On Joseph i.19; iii.63, 112; iv.3; ix.21, 133, 432. Jacob similarly absorbs Balai’s even syllable line 焏‫ܡ‬煟݂‫ ܒ‬焏‫ ܕܦܝܠ‬焏‫݁ܬܝܢ‬熏‫‘ ܟ‬the coat that was sprinkled with blood’ (Balai, On Joseph ix.400 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 274]) using the demonstrative to make up the extra syllable (Jacob, On Joseph iii.162, 165). Wright, Apocryphal Acts, 208 ln. 11. Other connections are given in the discussion of Balai above, and in chapter 5 below. Young, Art of Performance, 66. Exemplified notably in Papoutsakis, Vicarious Kingship. See Heal, ‘Note on Jacob’. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 89–90. East Syriac hand, but attributed to Jacob of Serugh. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 102–106. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 115–119.

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universiteit Bibliotheek cod. or. 17091/Hebr. 350, f. 1r–86v; London, British Library Oriental 9367, f. 286–318v;156 San Francisco (1901), i. 614–691;157 Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 607 (1901);158 Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 608;159 Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 609;160 West Syriac: Oxford, Bodleian Library Syriac 135/Pococke 404 (1641), f. 395–401v. Edition: Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 521–606 (also printed in Bedjan, Homiliae Mar Narsetis, 3–88) based on an unknown manuscript received from Joseph Elie Khayyat (M); and Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 58 (B). Translation: Grabowski, Geschichte Josefs (part of I); Weyl, Zweite JosephsGedicht (ii); Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte (includes translation and study of i–ii); Komban, ‘Second Reading about Joseph’; Heal, On Joseph Son of Jacob (in preparation). Bibliography: Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 35–41; Heal, ‘Joseph as a Type of Christ’; Heal, ‘Reworking the Biblical Text’; Heal, Tradition and Transformation, 33–68; Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 98–100; Witztum, ‘Joseph among the Ishmaelites’, 427 and passim. This anonymous fifth-century narrative poem is attributed in the manuscripts to both Narsai and Jacob of Serugh.161 It has been classified as an epic poem in previous studies.162 The imaginative and creative text reworks the biblical narrative, and augments it with numerous expansions, drawn mainly from the Syriac History of Joseph, that both heighten the drama and expound the biblical narrative—so much so that the first modern editor of this text called it ‘exegesis in verse’.163 It is thus not surprising that this is the most studied and the most frequently cited of all the Syriac Joseph poems.164 The textual history of this work is quite intriguing. It seems most likely that the text was originally composed in two memre, each written in twelve-syllable lines. These two memre told the whole of the Joseph story, at least to the point of Jacob com-

156 157 158 159 160 161

162 163 164

Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 135–137. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 143–146. Haddad and Isaac, Syriac and Arabic Manuscripts, 280. Haddad and Isaac, Syriac and Arabic Manuscripts, 280. Haddad and Isaac, Syriac and Arabic Manuscripts, 280–281. This work has been attributed to Narsai and Ps Narsai (PsN) in previous studies, including my own. I have retitled the work and detached the authorship attribution for the sake of clarity and precision. See Baumstark, Geschichte, 113. Grabowski, Geschichte Josefs, 8. It is also the only one of the narrative poems on Joseph that has been completely translated into a modern language.

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ing down to Egypt. However, at some point in the early history of the text, the ending of the second memra was lost. A later scribe added to this truncated pair a third memra written in seven-syllable lines, drawn almost entirely from the tenth memra of Balai’s On Joseph. This version of the collection was then passed down in all but one of the surviving manuscripts.165 Oxford Pococke 404, a West Syriac manuscript dated to the 1641, represents a unique witness to a branch of the text tradition in which the appended third memra was rewritten in twelve-syllable lines and added as a continuation of the second memra. In the first memra, the poet opens with an invocation of Moses to tell the story of Joseph (i.1–16). The poet then narrates how Joseph has dreams and tell them to his father. Jacob interprets the dreams to mean Joseph will become a king (i.17–28). The brothers hear about the dreams and are consumed with envy. Jacob sees this and sends them to tend the flocks in Shechem (i.29–32). The poet then describes how Jacob is concerned that the brothers have not returned and calls Joseph to go and see how they are. Jacob blesses Joseph before he sets off (i.33–42). Joseph does not find the brothers in Shechem. He meets a man in the wilderness who directs him to Dothan. Joseph arrives at Dothan (i.43–54). The poet has the brothers see Joseph from afar, complain about him, and plot against him (i.55–60). Joseph arrives and greets the brothers, but they grab him, complain about his preferential treatment, take his coat, and threaten to kill him (i.61–76). Joseph begs Reuben for help, telling him that Jacob will forgive him of his folly if he saves Joseph (i.77–94). The brothers discuss how to get rid of Joseph. Simeon suggests that they kill him, Judah that they sell him, and Reuben that they throw him in the pit (i.95–104). Here the poet interjects to say that Reuben spoke out of loving-kindness to save Joseph, just as Pilate tried to save Jesus (i.105–112). The brothers throw Joseph into the pit, and God goes down with him, comforting him (i.113–127). The poet describes how the merchants come at the beckoning of the Lord, but they think that the brothers are robbers and are afraid of them (i.128–136). Judah convinces the brothers that they should sell Joseph (i.137–142), which they do (i.143–154). As he is led away, Joseph begs his brothers for pity, asking them what they will tell Benjamin—Simeon replies that he need not worry about such things (i.155–168). Joseph then bids the brothers farewell (i.169–182). Then the poet describes how the brothers bespatter Joseph’s coat with blood and show it to

165

It is interesting that there was no concern is expressed in the East Syriac tradition about the change in metre.

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Jacob. Jacob weeps but asks to see the coat. Jacob identifies the coat as Joseph’s but says the blood is not his, making a connection with the blood of Abel (i.183– 203). The poet expands the journey to Egypt described economically by the biblical narrator. He describes how Joseph stops at Rachel’s tomb, where he weeps and cries out to his mother, and then hears the hidden Divine Will comfort him in the likeness of his mother’s voice (i.204–229). The merchants lead Joseph down to Egypt. They stand in awe of him and having sold all else, they ask him to go and be sold. Interestingly, the poet describes how when Joseph sees slaves traded in the marketplace, he cries out against it in his heart (i.230–253). The narrative point of view then turns to Potiphar, who sees Joseph and is amazed at him and thinks him a prince. He speaks with Joseph and purchases him, and soon delivers his household into Joseph’s care (i.254–291). As the scene moves inside Potiphar’s house, Potiphar’s wife sees Joseph and desires him. The biblical scene is considerably expanded by the poet. He describes how she adorns herself and tries to seduce him. Joseph resists. She offers to make him master of the house. Joseph refuses her. Joseph goes into the inner room; she propositions him, and he rejects her. She grabs him but he escapes leaving his clothing behind (i.292–359). The poet addresses an apostrophe to Joseph, praising his good actions (i.360–371). Joseph waits outside Potiphar’s house and thinks about all that has happened to him (i.372–383). His fellow servants ask Joseph what has happened. He tells them a snake attacked him in the house (i.384–397). Potiphar’s wife comes out and accuses Joseph of trying to rape her. The servants respond in Joseph’s favour (i.398–417). She repeats the accusation to Potiphar, who does not believe her and sets about trying to establish what happened. Nevertheless, the wife convinces the husband of her story and Joseph is sent to Prison (i.418–461). The poet follows the biblical order in the prison scene, but expands the speeches and descriptions. The Lord makes Joseph prosper in prison, and the guard entrusts Joseph with the keys to the prison (i.462–473). There, Joseph hears that the butler and baker have had dreams. He tells them to stop dreaming because of all the trouble his dreams have got him into. Nevertheless, Joseph hears and interprets the dreams of Pharaoh’s butler and baker (i.474–529). Later, Pharaoh has dreams. The butler tells him of Joseph. Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams and proposes a plan (i.530–595). Pharaoh makes Joseph a king in Egypt (i.596–613). Joseph goes through Egypt with messengers before him announcing him as king (i.614–615). A this point the poets interrupts the flow of the biblical narrative to reintroduce Potiphar and his wife. Potiphar hears and is greatly concerned, thinking that Joseph might punish him. He returns home and tells

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his wife. She confesses that she lied about Joseph and tries to comfort him. Potiphar’s wife decides to write to Joseph to beg for forgiveness. She delivers the petition and begs for forgiveness, which she receives (i.616–705). The memra ends with Joseph gathering the crops during the time of plenty and selling them during the time of famine (i.706–715). In the epilogue to this memra the narrator describes how God chose Joseph to save his brothers to help preserve the seed of Abraham, and then briefly recounts the history of Abraham and his seed to the coming of the Son (i.716–779). The memra closes with a doxology (i.780–783). The second memra begins with an extended prayer to ‘the Lord of Mysteries’ (ii.1–44) and an observation that the brothers’ journey to Egypt serves both as a fulfilment of Joseph’s dreams and as a type of the judgment (ii.45– 54), which leads to a long comparison series between Joseph and Jesus (ii.55– 82). The narrative commences with Jacob sending the brothers to Egypt for food (ii. 83–118). The brothers come before Joseph (ii.119–134) and have their first dialogue (ii.135–212). Joseph confines the brothers to prison for three days (ii.213–214), then tells them that he will keep a hostage until the brothers bring Benjamin (ii.215–234). In Hebrew, the brothers discuss how they are being punished for what they did to Joseph (ii.235–265). Joseph is moved by their conversation and gives grain to the brothers, telling them to return with Benjamin. Simeon remains (ii. 266–281). The brothers return and reluctantly tell Jacob about Simeon. Jacob laments, and the brothers try to explain. Jacob is undecided (ii.282–372). When the grain runs out and hunger returns, Jacob’s thoughts turn again to Egypt. He does not want his family to perish, and he is also worried about Simeon. However, Jacob is reluctant to send Benjamin with the rest of the brothers to Egypt to purchase grain. Jacob’s concern for Simeon and his family ultimately outweigh his concern for Benjamin. So, Jacob sends his children back to Egypt, but he asks for a pledge from the other brothers. Judah offers and his pledge is accepted (ii.373–465). Jacob counsels Benjamin before he leaves (ii. 466–471). At this point the narrator starts to add narrative expansions to heighten the drama of the biblical recognition scene. The brothers return to Egypt (ii.472– 479). Seeing the brothers, the steward talks with Joseph (ii.480–511) before ushering them in, whereupon Joseph talks with Benjamin and blesses him (ii.512– 535). The brothers confront the steward about the returned money (ii.536– 553). Joseph dines with his brothers, seating them by knocking on his cup; he seats himself beside Benjamin (ii.554–579). Benjamin begs Joseph to ask his cup about Joseph. The brothers rebuke Benjamin, but Joseph responds. The

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brothers marvel at the cup (ii.580–605). Joseph dines with his brothers while the Egyptians dine apart. Benjamin is given five portions (ii.606–611). Joseph instructs his steward regarding the sacks and the cup (ii.612–623). The brothers leave Egypt rejoicing but fearful. The steward pursues them and challenges them about the missing cup. The cup is found with Benjamin and the brothers return to Egypt to face Joseph (ii.624–697). Joseph confronts them angrily and threatens to have the cup tell their past misdeeds. The brothers speak up and denounce Benjamin, accusing him of taking after his thieving mother and deviant brother (ii.698–735). Joseph consults the cup and denounces them and their families, telling them about Jacob deceiving Isaac and defrauding Esau, about Jacob defrauding Laban, about Reuben lying with Bilhah, about Simeon and Levi ravaging Shechem, about Judah sleeping with his daughter-in-law, and about their selling their brother into slavery (ii. 736– 793). The poet heightens the tension further by reintroducing the Arabs who purchased Joseph. Joseph realizes who they are and has them speak. They tell their story, saying that hunger compelled them to bring Joseph’s bill of sale to him. They retell the story of purchasing him. Joseph takes the bill of sale and hears the merchants’ names. The bill is written in Hebrew and so Joseph asks Reuben to read it. Reuben sees his name and feigns poor sight (like his grandfather). Judah will also not read the letter and they refuse to hand it back to Joseph, saying he can do with them as he will (ii.794–869). At the narrative climax, Joseph determines to send the rest of the brothers back home, but he keeps Benjamin with him as a slave for stealing the cup. Judah offers himself instead. Benjamin pleads his innocence, saying that he would stay behind in Egypt just to have a chance to find Joseph (ii.870–910). Joseph reveals his identity (ii.911–939). Benjamin reunites with Joseph but is incredulous (ii.940–953). Joseph gives the brothers gifts and sends them home to fetch Jacob (ii.954–971). The brothers return home and tell Jacob that Joseph is indeed alive (ii. 972–987). Joseph Son of Jacob extends and reframes the Syriac History of Joseph by overlaying an extensive Christological typology atop its narrative. I do not think it coincidental that the Syriac History, the text that contains the highest concentration of Jewish traditions and a complete absence of obviously Christian themes, is deliberately and overtly Christianised in Joseph Son of Jacob. This Christianisation process involved both identifying Christological typology in the life of Joseph and deploying anti-Jewish rhetoric.

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Joseph and His Brothers in Three Metres (S 1587)

Incipit: 牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ ܝ‬爏‫ ܡܛ‬營‫ ܠ‬犟‫ ܬܐ ܦܫ‬犯‫ܟܒ‬熏‫ ܝ‬犯‫ܒ‬. Mss: Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 166/Sachau 190 (1860), f. 1–107v; Mardin, Deir ul-Zafaran 217/zfrn 00217 (20th C), image 25–63. Edition and Translation: Engel, Geschichte Josephs (partial with German translation); Heal, Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres (in preparation). Bibliography: Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 41–42; Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 100–102. Extracts166 1. Lns. 7–64 ̈ Incipit: 牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ܗ ܝ‬犯‫ܒ ܠܒ‬熏‫ܐ ܗܘܐ ܝܥܩ‬犯‫ ܩ‬爯‫ܡܝ‬熏‫ ܝ‬爯‫ ܡ‬煟‫ܒܚ‬. Mss: Birmingham, Mingana Syriac 182 (16th C), f 30r–30v; Jerusalem, St. Mark’s Monastery 163/smmj 00163 (1830), f. 106v–109r; Midyat, Mor Gabriel 254/mgmt 00254 (19th C), pp. 59–64. 2. Lns. [702]–[759]167 Incipit: 犯‫ ܠܒ‬爯‫ ܗܘܐ ܡ‬牟‫ܪ ܫܡ‬熏‫ܛܝܦ‬熏‫ܦ‬. Mss: Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 180/Sachau 189 (18th C), f. 94r–96v.168 3. Lns. [1870]–[1925] Incipit: 牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ܡ ܝ‬煟‫ ܩ‬焏‫ ܕܢܒܟ‬爯‫ܝ ܒܢܝܡ‬犯‫ܫ‬. Mss: Birmingham, Mingana Syriac 182 (16th C). f 29r–30r; Jerusalem, St. Mark’s Monastery 163/smmj 00163 (1830), f. 111r–113r; Midyat, Mor Gabriel 254/mgmt 00254, pp. 68–73. This anonymous narrative poem rewrites Joseph Son of Jacob (Text 9) as a single memra in alternating sections of 5, 7, and 12 syllable lines. It tells the story from Joseph being sent out to his brothers to Jacob’s arrival in Egypt (Gen. 37:12– 36, 39–46). The last section rewrites and extends the addition to Joseph Son of Jacob taken from Balai’s memre, indicating that this memra was composed based on an augmented version of Joseph Son of Jacob. At over 2400 lines, this

166 167

168

See also Text 24 below. The explicit is followed by the title for the following section, which reads, ‫ܒ‬熏‫ܝ ܝܥܩ‬犯‫ܒܡ‬ ‫ܪܐ‬熏‫ܢ ܥܒ‬熏‫ܒܢ‬熟‫ ܕܢ‬爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ ܠܡ‬熏̄‫ܬܐ ܕܐܚ‬狏‫ ܡܚ‬爏‫‘ ܥ‬In [the meter of] Mor Jacob, Concerning the brothers decent to Egypt to purchase provisions’. This title is also found in the Deir ul-Zafaran ms. Sachau, Verzeichniss, 591.

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poem is the longest of a small corpus of memre written (or rewritten) in multiple metres in the West Syriac tradition, a form that was previously thought to be ‘a peculiarity of Cyrillona’.169 The change in metre corresponds in some cases to a change in pathos, as when God comforts Joseph in the cistern in the metre of Balai (five-syllable lines), when Joseph calls out to his mother as her graveside, also in the metre of Balai, or the encounter with Potiphar’s wife, written in the metre of Ephrem (seven-syllable lines).

11

Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah (S 1342)

̈ 熏‫ ܝ‬焏‫ܫܒܥ‬. Incipit: 牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ܗ ܕܝ‬狏‫ܒ ܒܒܝ‬熏‫ ܗܘܐ ܗܘܐ ܝܥܩ‬爯‫ܡܝ‬ Mss: East Syriac: Mosul, Dominican Friars 302 (1723), f. 61r–75r; Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 58/Sachau 219 (late 18th C), f. 57r–68v; Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 490/olim Alqosh Notre-Dame des Semences 160 (1879);170 Cambridge, University Library, Add. 3538 (1882), f. 49r– 60r; Tel-Keppe, Qalb Al-Aqdas Chaldean Church 117 (1885), pp. 58–69;171 Vatican, Syriac 498 (1890), f. 302v–309v;172 London, British Library Oriental 9367, f. 319v–327r;173 Leiden, Rijksuniversiteit Bibliotheek Cod. Or. 17091/Hebr. 350, f. 90r–104v; San Francisco (1901), i.725–742;174 Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 607; Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 608; Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 609; West Syriac: Manchester, John Rylands Syriac 18, f. 225v–245v.175 Edition: Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 609–629 (also printed in Bedjan, Homiliae Mar Narsetis, 91–111) based on an unknown manuscript received from Joseph Elie Khayyat (M); and Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 58 (B).176 Translation: Rodrigues Pereira, ‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’; Brock, ‘Dinah’ (translation of extracts). Bibliography: Rodrigues Pereira, ‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’; Brock, ‘Dinah’.

169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176

Murray, Symbols, 122. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 102–106. Available online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/136581. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 115–119. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 135–137. Butts et al., Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai, 143–146. This memra seems to have been taken from a separate source than Text 9 found earlier in this manuscript. Coakley, ‘Catalogue of the Syriac Manuscripts’, 139. Alessandro Mengozzi notes the existence of a neo-Aramaic version of this memra in ‘NeoAramaic Manuscripts’, 482–483, item 16.1.

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This narrative poem of 407 twelve-syllable lines is set a week after Jacob arrives in Egypt and presents a striking account of how Joseph ended up in Egypt (Genesis 37). The story is told in the first person by Joseph to his father and his sister Dinah.177 The following passage from the Syriac History of Joseph, taken from the first exchange between the reunited Jacob and Joseph, may well have provided the donnée for this composition: ‘Who is it who ruined the old age of your father? Who is it who stripped off your coat and bespattered it with blood, and came in and spread it out before the eyes of your father? Behold today it is twenty years? Was it your brothers who did this to you with their hands, or perhaps some other men?’ Joseph said to his father, ‘It is not the time to tell you about everything that came upon your son Joseph’ (Syriac History of Joseph 51.1– 9).178 Rodrigues Pereira suggested that the poem was composed in the seventh century,179 while Sebastian Brock simply notes that the poem is ‘of uncertain date’.180 The narrative begins seven days after Jacob arrives in Egypt (1–2). Jacob comes to Joseph and asks how he ended up there, tells how he and Dinah mourned for him, and suggests that he call Dinah to also tell her what happened (3–8). Joseph sends a messenger to Dinah and once gathered begins to tell them his story from the moment that Jacob sent him to the flocks (9–16). Joseph describes his journey to his brothers, how they saw him and went off somewhere else, and how a partridge hunter helped him when he was lost (17–36). Joseph then describes being attacked by his brothers (37–42). Dinah interjects with shock (43–45). Joseph continues to describe his brothers’ attack, reporting the argument between Reuben, who alone tried to help him, and the sons of the handmaidens, which results in Joseph being thrown into a cistern rather than being killed (46–95). The Midianites arrive and the brothers sell Joseph to them as a slave, while Joseph is begging to just be allowed to go back to his father (96–118). Dinah interjects again, inveighing against

177 178

179 180

Rodrigues Pereira was right to question whether this memra ‘still belongs to the homiletic genre’ because of its lack of ‘specific religious content’ (‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’, 103). In Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 40.4, Jacob asks the brothers about how Joseph came to be in Egypt when they return after being reunited with Joseph. There, though, they confess their crime and are forgiven by Jacob. Rodrigues Pereira, ‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’, 100. Brock, ‘Dinah’, 222.

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the sons of the handmaidens, and recalling conversations that she had with Joseph about them, and Joseph’s confidence that he could always outrun them if they attacked him (119–147). Joseph describes how he was captured by deceit and stratagem (148–178). Jacob interjects, howling with grief and fainting, causing Joseph to be concerned that he has died and Dinah to comfort him (179– 192). Joseph and Dinah ‘pass the night fasting out of anxiety for their father’ staying close to his bed (193–196). Jacob awakes and asks Joseph to continue the story (197–208). Joseph then tells about how Reuben tried to protect and rescue him (209–236) and how he was sold to the Midianites, despite the merchants’ suspicions (237–276). Dinah stops Joseph, worried about their father Jacob (277–280). Joseph continues his story, describing how he was shackled and how he cried out his farewells to Benjamin, Dinah, Jacob and Reuben, passed his mother’s grave, and wept there (281–300). Jacob asks about Reuben, recalls Reuben’s misdeeds and prays that he receives absolution because of how he tried to save Joseph (301–323). Jacob then recalls how the brothers blatantly lied to him about the bloodied coat, which caused Dinah and Jacob to mourn for twenty years (324–327). Jacob recalls Dinah’s tender-heartedness (328–346) and asks Joseph to forgive his brothers for his and Dinah’s sake (347–352). Dinah recalls her mourning for Joseph, and for other members of the family and the community (353–383). When Joseph heard about these things he wept (384– 385). He converses with Dinah and Jacob and promises not to recall his brothers’ offences, receiving Jacob’s blessing (386–399). The epilogue gives a brief encomium on Joseph (400–407). Näf and Rodrigues Pereira note that the form of this poem is a frame story, in which the story of Jacob and Dinah gathering with Joseph seven days after their arrival in Egypt frames the retelling of the story of Joseph’s sale into Egypt.181 Though common in the ancient world, this literary technique is not used elsewhere in the Syriac sources, which prefer a sequential narration. The effect is striking, particularly in the way that it allows the reader to hear the reactions of Jacob and Dinah to the story as they hear it for the first time. These frequent interjections add pathos to the story and make Jacob’s plea that Joseph forgive his brothers even more unexpected. This text is also unusual for the vivid detail of the description. For example, the scene with the partridge hunter (25–38) includes several striking details.182

181 182

Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 39; Rodrigues-Pereira, ‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’, 99. Rodrigues Pereira examines this as a traditional folk motif (‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’, 100).

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Firstly, the man is given a specific occupation,183 is standing in an elevated position (27), beckons Joseph with his hand (27), waits for Joseph to reach him (28), wipes his tears away (28), reports the reason why the brothers went to Dothan (30), and gives Joseph a partridge when they part (35), which Joseph intended to take back to his father (35). None of these details are included in the early Syriac Joseph sources. Where those sources presented this scene essentially as a dialogue between Joseph and the man/angel, in this text, Joseph, as the implied narrator, describes the scene with a relative abundance of mimetic details.

12

Joseph Reveals His Identity to His Brethren

Incipit: 爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ܢ ܠܡ‬熏‫ܙܠ‬焏‫ ܕܢ‬爏‫ܐܝ‬犯‫ ܐܝܣ‬營‫ܘܕ ̈ܒܢ‬煿‫ ܝ‬爯‫ ܡ‬熏‫ܢܦܩ‬. Mss: London, British Library Additional 14588 (9th or 10th C), f. 68b–80b. Edition and Translation: Heal, ‘A Syriac Memra on Genesis 43–45’ (in preparation). Bibliography: Heal, ‘Note on Jacob’, 222. This anonymous narrative poem of 545 twelve-syllable lines treats the story of Joseph from the second departure of Joseph’s brothers for Egypt, this time with Benjamin, until Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers and sends them back to Jacob loaded with provisions (Gen. 43:15–45:25). The opening of the memra is rather abrupt and confusing. When the narrative transitions to Joseph’s court, the brothers are dining with Joseph, who plies them with fine wine (1–9).184 While they are enjoying the wine, Joseph’s steward fills their sacks with grain, places their money into each sack and the cup in Benjamin’s sack (10–19). The brothers leave Egypt later that afternoon rejoicing in their good fortune (20–29). Not long after the brothers have left the confines of the city, Joseph summons his steward and gives him precise instructions, including a warning about Levi and Simeon’s unusual strength,185 all aimed at returning the brothers back to the palace in fear of their lives (30–50). The steward and his men catch up with the brothers and start hurling accusations

183

184 185

See Syriac History of Joseph 4.8–11, where the guide is an angel, and Joseph Son of Jacob i.44–52 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 523–524), where the guide is simply a man as in Gen. 37:15. This motif is also found in Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis, 38.1. In the Syriac History of Joseph 39.1–4 the warning is about Judah’s unusual strength. The choice of Levi and Simeon doubtless relates to their part in the revenge against Shechem (Gen. 34:25–26), which is mentioned later in the narrative (74).

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at them (51–55). The brothers plan to retaliate, but Judah intervenes, and the steward and his men stay their swords when they see Levi’s anger increasing (56–91). Hearing the accusation of theft, the brothers rush to have their sacks checked by the Egyptians—all the bags are checked except Benjamin’s, and the steward feigns defeat (92–120). The brothers urge him to continue. They open Benjamin’s sack and the steward finds the cup. In response, the brothers weep for each other, while the Egyptians grab their swords and the steward praises his good fortune that the cup is found, saying that he will only take Benjamin back to Egypt (121–150). The brothers discuss their situation and agree to all return to Egypt. They begin to berate Benjamin, accusing him of being a thief and the son of a thief (151–193).186 Benjamin protests, however, arguing that the same person who put the money back in their sacks put the cup in his,187 which does not convince the brothers. Benjamin continues to swear to his honesty, and the brothers decide to leave the matter to the decision of the king (194–225). The steward brings the brothers back to Egypt, reports to Joseph, and then orders the brothers to be brought into Joseph’s presence (226–234). Joseph rebukes the brothers and then proceeds to ask the cup about them (235–251). Joseph knocks, listens, and then proceeds to recite the duplicitous and shady deeds of the sons of Abraham, thus implicating the brothers by association (252–323).188 Eventually, Benjamin asks the king to inquire of the cup to find out if Joseph is still alive. Joseph knocks, waits a little, and then tells him Joseph is alive. Joseph then proceeds to tell Benjamin of the brothers selling him to the Midianites and tells them they will be imprisoned for their deeds (324–398). Joseph then takes Benjamin into his inner chamber (焏‫)ܬܘܢ‬, where he reveals his true identity to him alone. They have a long exchange in which memories of Jacob and Dinah are mentioned to prove to Benjamin that he is Joseph (399–445). Joseph then calls Asenath and his two sons in to meet Benjamin, which is a rare mention of Joseph’s family in the Syriac tradition (446–447). At this point, Joseph goes back out to the rest of the brothers, who think that Benjamin has been taken captive. Judah pleads for Benjamin. Joseph sends the Egyptians away, raising more concerns from the brothers. When Joseph overhears his brothers lament for Benjamin, he is moved to reveal his identity to them (448–492). The brothers marvel and confess their misdeeds, and Joseph 186 187 188

This motif developed from Syriac History 41.1–9. This is a variation of the scene as construed in Ephrem’s commentary. This striking motif is first found in the Syriac History of Joseph and then developed further in the Joseph Son of Jacob ii.

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comforts them (493–518). Pharaoh hears of the arrival of Joseph’s brothers and summons them to his presence. He is greatly impressed by their mightiness and praises their father for having sired such sons (519–530). Joseph then sends the brothers back to Jacob loaded with provisions (531–540). There the poem ends. It seems very likely that this lively narrative was once part of a poetic cycle retelling the whole story of Joseph. The lack of any exordium or final doxology seems to support this suspicion. Some motifs in the story find their origin in Ephrem’s commentary. A number are drawn from the Syriac History, but not found in other texts. These include Joseph’s special warning about Judah’s irascible nature and unusual strength, a well-known Jewish motif; the steward feigning defeat, and also claiming to now be afraid to go back to Egypt and report to Joseph that the cup has not been found, a motif also employed in Ephrem’s commentary; the brothers discussing their situation after the cup is found and berating Benjamin, accusing him of being a thief and the son of a thief, a motif developed from the Syriac History; and finally, Joseph knocking on his cup and then reciting the duplicitous and shady deeds of the sons of Abraham, thus implicating the brothers by association, a striking motif first found in the Syriac History of Joseph and then developed further in Joseph Son of Jacob. However, although this text evinces a strong relationship with key works in the early Syriac corpus of Joseph material, the author of this memra knows his own mind and follows no one source to the exclusion of others.

13

On Joseph when He was Revealed to His Brothers

Incipit: 焏‫ ܩܪܝܢ‬狏‫ ܒܝ‬營‫ ܠ‬熏‫ ܕܪܫ‬焏‫ܢ ܐܘܪܚ‬犯‫ܪܐܙܝ ܡ‬. Mss: Vatican, Syriac 464, f. 196r–205r. Edition: Akhrass and Syryany, 160 Unpublished Homilies, i. 580–586. Bibliography: Heal, ‘Note on Jacob’, 217–218. This narrative poem, attributed to Jacob of Serugh, treats the story of Joseph from when Benjamin goes down to Egypt with his brothers to the recognition scene and the return of the brothers to Jacob (Gen. 43:1–45:28).189 The poem is composed in 188 twelve-syllable couplets. The opening seven lines are taken from the genuine Jacob memre (Text 8).190 The rest of the poem draws directly from the second memra of Joseph Son of Jacob (Text 9). 189 190

I misidentified this work in Heal, ‘Note on Jacob’, 217–218, being misled by the reuse of Jacob’s seventh memra on Joseph in the opening lines. Jacob, On Joseph vii.1, 4a; ix.2a, 3, 10a.

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After the preface (1–6), the poem describes how the brothers are sent back to Egypt with Benjamin (7–11). The steward sees the brothers coming and remarks how similar Benjamin is to him (12–22). Joseph has the brothers brought in and begins talking with them. On seeing and talking with Benjamin, he is overwhelmed and withdraws to his inner room to weep (23–37). Having been invited to dine, Joseph seats the brothers with the cup, acting as Benjamin’s brother (38–48). Benjamin asks Joseph to use the cup to find out if his brother is still alive—Joseph assures him that he is (49–54). Joseph arranges for the money to be put into the brothers’ luggage, and the cup in Benjamin’s, and then has his steward pursue the brothers (55–69). The brothers deny any wrongdoing, demanding that their luggage be searched, and insist on the search including Benjamin. They are overwrought when the cup is found and return to Egypt (70–87). Joseph uses the cup to expose the brothers’ long history of misdeeds (88–130). They fall prostrate, crying out that they are all his slaves (131). Joseph says that he will let them all go and just keep Benjamin (132–135). Judah speaks up, offering himself instead of Benjamin (136–142). Joseph refuses and accuses Benjamin, who pleads his innocence, demanding that Joseph ask the cup who stole it (143–150). At this point Joseph breaks down and reveals his identity (151– 161). They all fall prostrate before him and he comforts them, acknowledging divine providence in bringing him to Egypt to save them (162–176), and sends them back to Jacob laden with gifts (177–188). The poem has a few original moments but draws heavily from Joseph Son of Jacob. It summarizes, reworks, and frequently reproduces entire lines from this source. Even so, the author is selective in crafting a quick-moving narrative. This is another example, along with Text 10, of the influence and adaptation of Joseph Son of Jacob in the West Syriac tradition.

14

Removal of Joseph’s Bones (S 932)

Incipit: 焏‫̈ܒ‬狏‫ ܕܟ‬焏‫ܝܢ‬犯‫ ܘܒܩ‬:焏‫ ܕܣܦܪܝ ܪܘܚ‬焏‫ܒܥܢܝܢ‬. Edition: Bedjan, Histoire complète, 345–366.191 Bibliography: Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 5, 9, 11, 19.

191

Based on nineteenth-century East Syriac manuscripts acquired from Tel-Keppe and Alqosh (Bedjan, Histoire complète, x–xi), neither of which are currently known. Sergey Minov kindly informed me that this text is contained in Alqoš, Notre Dame des Semences, ms. 308, as noted in Vosté, Catalogue de Notre-Dame des Semences, 112. The current location of this manuscript is unknown.

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This narrative poem, written in seven-syllable lines, describes the removal of Joseph’s bones from Shechem, via Antioch, to Constantinople during the time of Theodosius and Arcadius. It tells of the role of the ‘Blessed One’ (焏‫ܒܢ‬熏‫)ܛ‬, who often speaks in the first person, in the discovery and removal of Joseph’s body. The journey involved overcoming Jewish and Samaritan resistance and performing signs and wonders by the relics along the way.192 This lively and engaging narrative is a fascinating part of the afterlife of Joseph in the Syriac tradition.

15

Removal of Joseph’s Bones (West Syrian)

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Incipit: 焏‫ܣ ܡܠܟ‬熏‫ ܘܬܐܘܕܘܣܝ‬:‫ܣ‬熏‫ܪܝ‬熏‫ܗ ܕܐܢ‬狏‫ܡ‬熏‫ܒܝ‬. Mss: London, British Library Additional 7190 (12th/13th C), f. 329–333; Vatican, Syriac 464 (1234), f. 63v–70r; Vatican, Syriac 96 (1352), f. 168–178; Mardin, Church of the Forty Martyrs 145 (20th C), f 24v–33v.193 Bibliography: Wright, After Antiquity, 70–71. This narrative poem, written in seven-syllable lines, is a distinct, West Syrian recension of the previous text. It lacks the homiletic introduction and seems to be the earlier version of this narrative.

16

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

Incipit: 牟‫ ܦܓ‬營‫ܥܝܢ‬犯‫ ܒ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ ܕܝ‬煿‫ܒ‬犯‫ܫ‬. Mss: London, British Library Additional 17141 (8th or 9th C), f. 100v–101r. Edition: Brock, ‘Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife’, 43–49.194 Translation: Brock, Treasure-house, 104–107. This dialogue poem treats Gen. 37:7–9. The poem is written in quatrains of seven syllable lines. After the three introductory stanzas the poem is structured as a double acrostic. The dating of bl Add. 17141 provide a terminus ante quem of the eighth or ninth century, but internal evidence suggests the poem was

192

193 194

See Sivan, Palestine in Late Antiquity, 114–115 for an account of Samaritan (and other) resistance to the acquisition of Joseph’s bones. See also Crown, ‘Byzantine and Moslem Period’, esp. 69–71. I am grateful to James Walters for notice of this manuscript. This text is Brock’s Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife i.

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written in the fifth century.195 There is a lacuna covering the last two lines of stanza six and the first two of stanza seven. Only eighteen verses survive in the single manuscript witness. In the preface the poet imagines Joseph in a contest with Potiphar’s wife, described as a ‘mighty dispute’ (焏‫ ܪܒ‬焏‫ )ܕܪܫ‬and an ‘ordeal’ (焏‫ܘܫ‬狏‫)ܬܟ‬, in which the ‘upright man stood unmoved’ (1). This stanza in unpacked in the following two stanzas, which describe the woman seeing Joseph, burning with lust and desire for him (2), and her attempts to win him over, ‘but he was not caught in her nets’ (3). What has been narrated is now dramatized in the fifteen remaining stanzas, with Potiphar’s wife making arguments in each stanza that are rebutted specifically or in general by Joseph in the succeeding stanza. These arguments and responses draw from the fifth-century Joseph sources.196

17

Joseph and His Mistress

Incipit: ‫ܬܗ‬犯‫ ܘܕܡ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ ܕܝ‬煿‫ܒ‬犯‫ ܫ‬.熏‫ ܬܘ ܨܘܬܘ ܘܫܡܥ‬營‫ܐ̈ܚ‬. Mss: London, British Library Additional 17141 (8th or 9th C), f. 105r (first seven stanzas only); Mardin, Chaldean Cathedral 429/ccm 00429 (1571), f. 22r–23r (first fourteen stanzas only); Jerusalem, St. Mark’s Monastery 163/smmj 00163 (1830), f. j7–j13; Vatican, Syriac 188, f. 61r–63v; Cambridge, University Library Additional 2820 (1882), f. 75v–77v; Aleppo, Syrian Orthodox Church 48H/soaa 00048 H (19th C), f. 48v–52v; Midyat, Mor Gabriel 201/mtmg 00201 pp. 123–130 (20th C). Edition and Translation: Brock, ‘Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife’, 49–57;197 Mengozzi, L’invenzione del dialogo, 140–147. This dialogue poem, written in twenty-two stanzas, treats Gen. 37:7–9, 17–20. The poem is structured as an alphabetic acrostic, beginning with the first verse. The metre is unusual, the dialogue is not presented in alternating stanzas, narrative elements are inserted in the poem, and a third person (Potiphar) enters

195

196 197

Brock notes that the acrostic begins with the dialogue in the ‘oldest dialogue poems’, as does the feature of ‘the recapitulation, but the second speaker, of the opening of the first speaker’s words in the previous stanza’ (‘Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife’, 44). See also, Brock, ‘Syriac Dialogue Poems’, 35. For example, the offer of freedom in stanza 8 and the argument that no one will know in stanza 12. See the analysis of this episode in chapter 7 below. This text is Brock’s Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife ii.

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the scene at the end of the poem as the addressee. The dating of British Library, Add. 17,141 provide a terminus ante quem of the eighth or ninth century. The earliest dialogue poems are written in the fourth and fifth centuries, but internal evidence suggests that this is a late dialogue poem, so probably after the fifth century.198 The poem opens with the author addressing the audience directly (1), telling of Potiphar’s wife’s desire for Joseph (2), of her adornments (3) and of Joseph’s obedience (4). The main body of the poems consists of four arguments from Potiphar’s wife, which are each rebuffed by Joseph.199 Potiphar is now addressed by his wife, arguing that Joseph should be thrown in prison (15–17). Potiphar accepts her arguments and imprisons Joseph (18–20). The poem ends with an encomium in praise of the Lord, who raised Joseph to be king (21) and rescued him from the Egyptian woman (22).

18

Joseph Rejects His Mistress

Incipit: 牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ܗ ܕܝ‬犯‫ܦ‬熏‫ܐ ܠܫ‬狏‫ܬ ܫܛܝ‬熟‫ܚ‬. Mss: Mardin, Chaldean Cathedral 429/ccm 00429 (1571), f. 25r–25v; Vatican, Syriac 188, f. 61r; Baghdad, Archbishopric of the Church of the East 6 (1719), p. 145; Cambridge, University Library Additional 2820 (1882), f. 75r–v. Edition and Translation: Mengozzi and Ricossa, ‘Folk Spontaneity’, 165–168; Mengozzi, L’invenzione del dialogo, 148–149. This brief dialogue poem captures Joseph and Potiphar’s wife in the throes of a heated verbal exchange. Each verse is comprised of a couplet and refrain. The poet opens by setting the scene (v. 1), then gives three examples of the offers made to Joseph if he would do the will of his mistress (v. 2–4), and ends with Joseph’s emphatic rejection (v. 5). Each verse repeats Joseph’s refusal as the refrain. The poetic impact is found in the building of the refrain to a crescendo in verse five, where the poet tells what Joseph will not do, and in the repetition of ‘no’ in the third line of each verse, which refuses to be restrained by metrical constraints. The poem is called a soghithā in the manuscripts, though it is a variation on the traditional form, since the characters do not speak in alternating stanzas.

198 199

Brock, ‘Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife’, 49–50. The arguments each follow or adapt traditional material found in fifth century sources. See chapter 7 below.

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It is comprised of five verses, each written in quatrains of eight-syllable lines. The poem is comparable both in length, and in the anaphoric use of a repeated question and response, to the poems ‘Resurrection’ and ‘Tell me Church!’ edited alongside this poem by Mengozzi and Ricossa. A considerable degree of latitude is given to the repetition of ‘no’ (焏‫ )ܠ‬in third line, with additional variation across the manuscripts—the editors even note a case in which the number of repetitions of 焏‫‘ ܠ‬seems to be determined by graphical rather than metrical requirements’.200 The poem draws upon the arguments made by Potiphar’s wife in the Syriac History of Joseph and some of the longer narrative poems, as I show in chapter 7 below. The text is transmitted with other short pieces on Joseph that were read on Sundays of Mar Moses.201

19

On Joseph and Benjamin

Incipit: 爯‫ܒܝ‬狏‫ ܝ‬煟‫ ܟ‬焏‫ ܐ̈ܚ‬爯‫ܢ ܬܪܝ‬熏‫ܐ ܠܟ‬熟‫ ܚ‬焏‫ ܠ‬營‫ܐܘ ܐ̈ܚ‬.202 Mss: West Syrian Recension: Oxford, Bodleian Hunt 595, f. 115b (15th C); Birmingham, Mingana Syriac 494, f. 70r–72r (1609/1616). Mardin, Church of the Forty Martyrs 259/cfmm 00259 pp. 354–356; Midyat, Mor Gabriel 201/mtmg 00201 pp. 115–123 (20th C). East Syrian Recension: Mardin, Chaldean Cathedral 429/ccm 00429 (1571), f. 25v–27r; Baghdad, Archbishopric of the Church of the East 6 (1719), pp. 145–147; Vatican, Syriac 188, f. 63v–65v; Birmingham, Mingana Syriac 129, f. 90r–91v (1855); Cambridge, University Library Additional 2820 (1881), f. 77v–79r. Edition and Translation: Brock, Soghyatha Mgabbyatha, 15–17 (based on Bodleian, Hunt 595f. 115b); Brock, ‘Syriac Dialogue between Joseph and Benjamin’. Bibliography: Brock, ‘Syriac Dialogue Poems’, 42 and passim. This dialogue poem, written in twenty-two stanzas, imagines an exchange between Joseph and Benjamin immediately before Joseph reveals his iden200

201

202

Mengozzi and Ricossa, ‘Folk Spontaneity’, 168. However, it is not impossible that the poem was originally composed in isosyllabic quatrains, cinquains, or even triplets, as suggested by the translation by Mengozzi and Ricossa. According to Etheridge, ‘The Sundays of Musha, (Moses,) more or fewer, [fall] between the festival of the cross, and the first of November’ (The Syrian Churches, 115). Maclean notes that ‘if Easter fall late, all or some of the Sundays of Mar Mushi are omitted’ (Maclean, ‘East Syrian Daily Offices’, 280). East Syrian recension omits initial ‫ܐܘ‬.

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tity. The poem is written as an alphabetic acrostic, beginning with the first verse, in 6+6 6+6 syllable stanzas. The speakers alternate, beginning with Joseph, but not in alternating stanzas. The prologue marvels at the possibility of two brothers talking together without knowing each other (1). The king begins by asking Benjamin why he is so sad (2). On hearing that it is because of his lost brother (3), the king asks why he mourns for one brother when he has ten others (4–5). Benjamin asks how he could possibly forget Joseph, calling him ‘Nisan’s rose’ (爯‫)ܘܪܕܐ ܕܢܝܣ‬ (6–7), but the king still wants to know why (8). Benjamin replies that, ‘if I were to reveal to you the terrible news about Joseph, maybe you too, my lord king, would be weeping for Joseph!’ (9). The king asks Benjamin who Joseph resembles (10–11). Benjamin replies that Joseph ‘resembles you my lord king’ (12–13), causing Joseph to fall among them weeping, upon which they embrace each other and ask after each other (14). Joseph then asks about Jacob (15), and Benjamin describes how he mourns for Joseph (16–18). Joseph then tells Benjamin to go and take provisions to Jacob and tell him that Joseph is alive (19–20). The poem ends in praise of God (21–22). The dialogue offers a fascinating reimagining of the final moments before Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers. The dialogue focuses the scene on the two brothers moments before they are reconciled. Joseph seems to continue the trajectory of testing in the first part of the poem but leads Benjamin to recognize him before he finally breaks down. Benjamin is central to the drama of the Genesis narrative at this point, but only Judah speaks. In Joseph Son of Jacob, however, it is Benjamin who speaks immediately prior to the anagnorisis, perhaps providing the inspiration for this dialogue poem.203

20

On Joseph and His Brothers

Incipit: 焏‫ܐ ܕܠܠܝ‬狏‫ ܫܢ‬爯‫ ܡ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ ܝ‬爟‫ܐ ܩ‬犯‫ܢ ܨܦ‬煟‫ܒܥ‬. Mss: Mardin, Chaldean Cathedral 429/ccm 00429 (1571), f. 20r–22r; Vatican, Syriac 188, f. 65v–67v; Cambridge, University Library Additional 2820 (1882), f. 79r–80v. Edition and Translation: Heal, ‘Minor Works on Joseph’ (in preparation). A narrative madrasha of eleven stanzas with a 7 + 5 7 + 5 7 + 7 7 + 5 metre structure. There is a refrain (‘Halleluiah, Halleluiah’) after the third line in each

203

Joseph Son of Jacob ii.892–915 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 601–602).

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stanza. The poem is an epitome of the story of Joseph from his dreams to the sale in the wilderness (Gen. 37:5–28). The poem opens with Joseph waking one morning and telling his brothers his harvest dream (1–2). He sees another dream a few days later and tells it to his brothers then his father (3). Jacob responds (4). The brothers plan to go to the flocks and wait for Joseph (5–7.1– 2). Jacob sends Joseph out as his ‘deputy’ (焏‫ܦ‬熏‫ )ܬܚܠ‬to take provisions to the brothers (7.3–4). Joseph goes out to the flocks and is seen by the brothers who discuss how to kill him (8–9). The poem ends with typological connections between Jesus and Joseph (10–11). This poem draws on Balai for the motif of the brothers planning to go out to the wilderness in order to draw Joseph out into a trap.204 The poet’s plea for pity in 11.4 suggests that this is an original poem and that the integrity of the poem may be intact, even though the narrative is concise. The object of the poem appears to set up the typological reveal at the end. The language of the poem suggests a medieval composition.

21

Joseph Reveals the Dream to His Father

Incipit: 燿‫ ܨܐܕܝ‬犯‫ ܕܐܡ‬營‫ ܠ‬狏‫ܡ ܐܝ‬煟‫ ܡ‬.‫ܗܝ‬熏‫ܒ‬焏‫ ܠ‬犯‫ܐ ܘܐܡ‬犯‫ܦ‬犏‫ ܒ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ܡ ܝ‬煟‫ܩ‬ 營‫̈ܓܡ‬狏‫ ܦ‬牟‫ܫܡ‬. Mss: Vatican, Syriac 188, f. 69r–70r; Cambridge, University Library Additional 2820 (1882), f. 81r–v. Edition and Translation: Heal, ‘Minor Works on Joseph’ (in preparation). This work is an eighteen-line narrative poem that takes Gen. 37:9–10 as its setting. The poem is composed in twelve-syllable lines arranged in couplets. In the first half of the poem, Joseph recounts his second dream to his father (1–4) and receives Jacob’s explanation of the dream (5–8). Jacob then offers a blessing of protection and curses upon anyone or any creature who harms Joseph (9–18). This latter part seems to relate more to a retelling of Gen. 37:13–14. The discontinuity between the first part and the second suggests that this may be a composite text extracted from an otherwise unknown narrative poem.

204

Balai, On Joseph, i.391–420 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 17).

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Joseph in the Market Place

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Incipit: 營‫ ܠ‬爟‫ ܐܩܝ‬爯‫ ̇ܡ‬爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ ܡ‬營‫ܩ‬熏‫ ܒܫ‬焏‫ ܕܢܟܠ‬焏‫ܚܓ‬. Mss: Baghdad, Archbishopric of the Church of the East 6 (1719), pp. 147–149; Vatican, Syriac 188, f. 68v–69r; Cambridge, University Library Additional 2820 (1882) f. 82r–v. Edition and Translation: Heal, ‘Minor Works on Joseph’ (in preparation). In six couplets of twelve syllable lines this dramatic monologue imagines Joseph’s reaction at the sight of the slave market in Egypt (Gen. 37:36). The donnée of the poem is Joseph Son of Jacob i.244–245,205 which is slightly rewritten to form the poem’s first couplet. In Joseph Son of Jacob, Joseph responds to the sight of the slave market with an internal monologue on the origins of slavery in the curse of the seed of Ham (i.246–250). In this poem, however, Joseph reflects instead on how he was deceived by his brothers (3–4), compares buying him with purchasing pure gold and unblemished pearls (5–6, 11–12), and calls out in vain to his father (7–10).

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Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt

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Incipit: 爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ ܡ‬爯‫ܪܐ ܡ‬熏‫ܢ ܥܒ‬熏‫ܒܢ‬熟‫ ܕܢ‬.‫ܒ‬熏‫ܗܝ ܝܥܩ‬熏‫ ܗܘܘ ܒܢ‬爯‫ܝ‬狏‫ ܢܚ‬煟‫ܟ‬ ‫ܘܢ‬煿‫ܪܥ‬焏‫ܘܢ ܠ‬狏‫ܘܢܝ‬. Mss: Baghdad, Archbishopric of the Church of the East 6 (1719), p. 149; Vatican, Syriac 188, f. 68r–v; Cambridge, University Library Additional 2820 (1882) f. 81v–81r. Edition and Translation: Heal, ‘Minor Works on Joseph’ (in preparation). A narrative madrasha of seven verses, each verse is made up of seven-syllable triplets, giving 21 lines in total. Each verse has one irregular line. The setting of the poem is the second journey to Egypt to purchase food, specifically the moment when the brothers hear of the theft of the cup and accuse Benjamin of stealing it (1–9). Benjamin pleads his innocence (10–15) and gives a brief soliloquy wondering what he will do and who will help him (18–21). The latter is introduced by the narrator, who wonders, ‘Where is the eye that would not weep when Benjamin was [speaking]’ (16–17).

205

Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533.

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On the Sons of Jacob in the Metre of Mor Jacob

Incipit: 爯‫ܗܝ ܐܦ ܒܢܝܡܝ‬熏‫ ܘܐ̈ܚ‬爏‫ ܪܘܒܝ‬爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ ܡ‬爯‫ ܡ‬熏‫ܢܩܦ‬. Mss: Jerusalem, St. Mark’s Monastery 163 (1830), f. 109r–111r; Midyat, Mor Gabriel Ms. 254 pp. 64–68; Midyat, Mor Gabriel 250 pp. 101–104. Edition and Translation: Heal, ‘Minor Works on Joseph’ (in preparation). This short narrative poem written in couplets of twelve syllable lines206 draws heavily on Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres (Text 10).207 The setting of the poem (1–6) is the second departure of the brothers from Egypt as found in Genesis 44:1–6. Most of the poem is taken up with the brothers’ reactions to the unvoiced accusations: Simeon first accuses Benjamin (7–8), and Benjamin swears his innocence (8–12).208 Then Simeon threatens to destroy the whole of Egypt—if only he can get Levi’s sword (13–16, 25–26).209 Judah suggests that they each take one of Egypt’s twelve sections and he take two (17–18). Reuben then inserts a calm voice, encouraging the brothers to desist, and noting that he could not kill thousands of men who had not injured them (19–22). The poem ends with Joseph’s steward telling him about the encounter (23–26).

25

On the Death of Jacob

Incipit: 犯‫ܗ ܘܐܡ‬煟‫ ܘܦܩ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ܐ ܠܝ‬犯‫ ܩ‬.爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ ܡ‬熏‫ܒ ܒܓ‬熏‫ܬ ܗܘܐ ܝܥܩ‬焏‫ ܡ‬煟‫ܟ‬ 煿‫ ܠ‬. Mss: Baghdad, Archbishopric of the Church of the East 6 (1719), pp. 149–150; Vatican, Syriac 188, f. 67v–68r. Edition and Translation: Heal, ‘Minor Works on Joseph’ (in preparation). This narrative madrasha has two verses, with each verse comprising a quatrain of eight-syllable lines, a quatrain of five-syllable lines, and a final single eight206 207

208 209

Marked as quatrains in the manuscripts. Lines 5–7 are taken from Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 1386–1387; 13–14 are taken from Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 1390–1391; lines 15–16 are based on Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 1392–1393; lines 17–18 are taken from Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 1395–1396; and lines 19–26 are based on Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 1397–1404. This section of unique material has some echoes in Benjamin’s speech in Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 1727–1749. The Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres draws here upon traditions about the incredible strength of the sons of Jacob found in the Syriac History of Joseph 39.1–4.

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syllable line. The donnée of the poem is Genesis 50:16–17, though the setting is recast as an exchange between Jacob and Joseph. Jacob begins by asking Joseph not to remind his brothers of their transgression, noting that despite what they did, they are now bowing down to his greatness (v. 1). Joseph swears that the brothers are safe, and then asks his father to bless them (v. 2).

26

Benjamin and the Cup

Incipit: 爯‫ ܒܢܝܡܝ‬焏‫ ܠܛܠܝ‬.煿‫ܐ ܠ‬犯‫ ܫܦܝ‬焏‫ܡ‬. Mss: Baghdad, Archbishopric of the Church of the East 6 (1719), pp. 150–151. Edition and Translation: Heal, ‘Minor Works on Joseph’ (in preparation). This narrative madrasha has eleven verses, with each verse comprising a quatrain of five-syllable lines. A refrain follows each verse. The setting of the poem is Genesis 44:12–34. The poem opens with Benjamin swearing his innocence, seemingly at the initial site of the discovery of the cup (v. 1–3). The brothers return to Egypt and Joseph questions them (v. 4–5). The brothers plead ignorance (v. 6). Joseph threatens Benjamin with death (v. 7). The brothers disavow Benjamin, casting aspersions on his mother and brother (v. 8). Benjamin expresses his loneliness with beautiful pathos (v. 9). Judah intercedes, offering himself instead of Benjamin (v. 10–11).

27

Joseph and Asenath (cavt 105; Syriac version S 559)

Mss: London, British Library Additional 17202 (c. 600), f. 10r–25v; London, British Library Additional 7190 (12th or 13th C), f. 319r–328v. Edition: Brooks, Historia ecclesiastica Zachariae Rhetori, 21–55, (trans.), 15–39. Studies: Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 107–110;210 Standhartinger, ‘Recent Scholarship on Joseph and Asenath (1988–2013)’; Wright, After Antiquity, 36–72, 92–102;211 Minov, ‘Syriac’, 111–112. The Syriac translation of Joseph and Asenath was made in the sixth century by Moshe of Aggel and survives in a manuscript dated to 600 ce.212 This manu210 211 212

On Phenix’s analysis see Wright, After Antiquity, 58 fn. 93. I am grateful to Dr. Wright for sharing the relevant section of his thesis with me. The translator is identified in two prefatory letters, the second of which is incomplete. For more on the translator and the nature of the translation see Wright, After Antiquity, 43–56, 62–69.

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script was copied in the twelfth or thirteenth century, producing the other surviving witnesses.213 The work is a prose narrative describing the events leading up to and following the marriage of Joseph to Asenath. Asenath is mentioned rarely in the Syriac sources.214 It appears that the translation of this work had no discernible influence on the Syriac Joseph texts discussed in this chapter, as noted already by David Taylor,215 though it did survive as an independent and valued text in both West and East Syriac circles.216

28

Story of Asenath’s Origins (cavt 109)

Mss: Birmingham, Mingana Syriac 177 (19th C), f. 227a–228a; Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 174/Sachau 70 (19th C) f. 75a–76a. Edition: Oppenheim, Fabula Josephi et asenethae, 4–5 (based on Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 174). Studies: Aptowitzer, ‘Asenath, the Wife of Joseph’; Brock, ‘Notes on Some Texts in the Mingana Collection’, 206–207; Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 107–110; Minov, ‘Syriac’, 112. This prose narrative gives a fascinating origin story for Asenath but is ‘not directly related’ to the Joseph and Asenath romance.217 Asenath is said to be the child of Dinah and Shechem by rape (Gen. 34:1–2). She had been left to die by her mother but was instead carried by an eagle to Egypt and adopted by Potiphar. There are clear connections with the medieval Jewish Midrashic tradition.

29

Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph the Most Virtuous

Edition: Assemani, Sancti Patris Nostri Ephraem Syri Opera Omnia (Homily on Joseph, Vol. 2, pp. 21–41).218 213 214

215 216 217 218

On this manuscript, London, British Library Additional 7190, see Wright, After Antiquity, 69–71. Direct references include Syriac History of Joseph 23.11 (not named), and the anonymous memra, Joseph Reveals His Identity to his Brethren, 446–447 (named). An indirect reference appears in Aphrahat’s Joseph-Jesus comparison series discussed in chapter 2 below. Taylor, ‘Quand les apocryphes syriaques’, 35 fn. 23. Although no East Syriac recension survives, the text appears to be mentioned in the Catalogue of Books by ‘Abdisho‘ bar Brikha. See Wright, After Antiquity, 69–71. Wright, After Antiquity, 39; Minov, ‘Syriac’, 112. There is also a Latin version: Bailly, ‘Traduction latine d’un sermon d’Ephrem’. The Italian

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Translation: Lash, ‘Sermon on Joseph the Most Virtuous’;219 Crowell, Biblical Homilies of Ephraem Graecus, 175–200. Bibliography: Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 10–11; Hemmerdinger-Iliadou, ‘Vers une nouvelle édition de l’Éphrem grec’, 72–80; Vikan, Illustrated Manuscripts of Pseudo-Ephrem’s Life of Joseph; Poirier, ‘Sermon pseudoéphrémien’; Phenix, Sermons on Joseph, 103–107; Crowell, Biblical Homilies of Ephraem Graecus. This Greek narrative poem attributed to Ephrem treats the story of Joseph from his dreams to Jacob’s arrival in Egypt (Gen. 37, 39–46).220 The narration of the Joseph story is distinguished by the occasional shift into an eight-syllable meter, which Lash observes corresponds to ‘the heightened emotion of the various entreaties and laments’.221 The final portion of the narrative, according to Lash, is in prose (493–820). This is one of several works (see also Texts 29–33) that show how the Syriac Joseph tradition transcended linguistic boundaries.222 As is the case for almost the entire Ephrem Graecus corpus, there is no identifiable Syriac Vorlage for this piece,223 though there is an abundance of versional witnesses.224 The linguistic evidence derived from the Armenian version suggests that the work was written in the fifth century or earlier, and in Syriac rather than Greek.225 The poem begins with a series of comparisons between the life of Joseph and the life of Jesus (30–120).226 The end of this comparison series marks the beginning of the narration of the story of Joseph. The seven-syllable metre con-

219 220 221 222

223 224 225 226

translation of the Latin is found in Neri, Due sermoni e la Laudazione di Iosef di Santo Effrem. For the influence of the Latin translation see, Eder, ‘Ein dem Hl. Effrem zugeschriebener Sermo’. Available at http://www.anastasis.org.uk/Joseph.pdf [accessed April 20, 2009]. Now only available via archive.org’s Wayback Machine. I am grateful to Professor Paul-Hubert Poirier for kindly sending me copies of the Assemani and the recent Greek editions of this work. Lash, ‘Sermon on Joseph the Most Virtuous’, 1. Lash notes that versions exist in Arabic, Coptic, Georgian, Armenian and Old Slavonic. Only the Coptic version has been critically edited: Crégheur and Poirier, La version copte du discours pseudo-éphrémien. The well-known exception to this is the memra on Jonah, on which see Brock, ‘Ephrem’s Verse Homily on Jonah’. Lash mentions versions in Arabic, Coptic, Georgian, Armenian, and Old Slavonic (‘Sermon on Joseph the Most Virtuous’, 2). Lash, ‘Sermon on Joseph the Most Virtuous’, 1. Poirier inclines towards a date no later than the fourth century (‘Sermon pseudo-éphrémien’, 120). See chapter 2 below.

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tinues across this divide,227 but the Christological typology that characterizes the introduction is entirely absent from the remainder of the poem. Thus, two strands of the early Syriac Joseph tradition (Aphrahat and Ephrem’s Genesis commentary) seem to come together in this text, but in more of an arranged marriage rather than an integrated union. These two approaches are simply placed side-by-side, as though they might grow together over time, which, of course, they did in other texts. The stark contrast between the proem and the body of the poem has caused Poirier to question whether the Joseph narrative proper does not in fact stem from a Jewish source.228 Close study of the Syriac sources suggests, however, that one should be slow to draw such a conclusion.229 The life of Joseph begins with a meditation on Joseph’s virtue, which is said to be the reason Joseph was favoured with dreams (121–138). The dreams are not recounted, the author simply records that Jacob was ignorant of the hatred that the dreams spawned—he simply loved Joseph because of his virtue (139– 143). In the next scene, the brothers are out grazing the sheep and Jacob sends Joseph out to visit them because he is anxious about the brothers (144–150). Joseph heads off ‘with joy’, loses his way, is helped, and finally sees them in the distance, ‘longing to embrace them all’ (151–160). The brothers attack him ‘like wild beasts’ (161–173). Joseph responds with a long speech, adjuring them by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to send him back to his father (176– 212). The brothers respond by immediately throwing him into a pit, unmoved by Joseph’s cries for help (213–218). Joseph offers a long prayer in the pit (220– 247), while the brothers sit atop eating and drinking with joy (251–254). The brothers see the approaching Ishmaelite merchants and decide to sell Joseph (256–267). The merchants journey on with Joseph, passing Rachel’s grave, where Joseph stops to offer a lament to Rachel (268–298). The Ishmaelites are concerned, thinking Joseph is doing sorcery (300–313). When the merchants see Joseph weeping, they ask why he is crying, and who he really is (314–348). Joseph tells them what happened to him (350–367). The merchants try to encourage him (368–373). At this point the story returns to the brothers, who stain Joseph’s coat with blood and present it to their father (375–386). Jacob responds with a long lament, in which he expresses doubts about the story of the wild beast because of the lack of claw marks on the coat (387–429). 227 228 229

Brock notes that the Greek version of the Syriac memra on Jonah also attempts to reproduce the 7-syllable metre of the original (‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’, 141). Poirier, ‘Sermon pseudo-éphrémien’. Heal, ‘Syriac History of Joseph’, 88–92.

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The story turns again to Joseph and describes his sale to Potiphar (432–445). Potiphar brings Joseph to his house, eventually handing over all aspects of the running of his household to Joseph (446–471). The encounters with Potiphar’s wife begin with attempts to seduce Joseph with the eyes (473–492) and then attempts to talk Joseph into sleeping with her, with extended speeches from both Potiphar’s wife and responses from Joseph (493–540). Joseph eventually runs, prompting Potiphar’s wife to accuse him of rape (541–563). Potiphar immediately believed the accusation and throws Joseph into prison (565– 569). God is with Joseph, and he prospers in prison, hearing and interpreting the dreams of the royal butler and baker (570–589). In a rare apostrophe, the author chides Joseph for seeking help from the chief butler instead of relying on God alone for victory (590–600). Pharaoh’s dreams and the butler’s memory prompt Joseph’s release and subsequent dream interpretation and elevation in Pharaoh’s court (602–626). Potiphar sees Joseph’s elevation and flees but is comforted by the confession and the confidence of his wife and returns to bow before Joseph (627–646). The famine drives the brothers to visit Egypt once, leaving Simeon behind (648–672), and then a second time with Benjamin (672–683). Upon seeing Benjamin, and hearing that his father is alive, Joseph runs to his inner room and celebrates his father and brother in a long monologue (683–703). The brothers then dine with Joseph, being seated by him in order as he divines with his cup (704–726). Joseph sends the brothers off with grain and the cup concealed, forcing their arrest, the discovery of the cup, vicious accusations against Benjamin, together with Benjamin’s defence (727–757). Judah offers himself instead of Benjamin (758–777), prompting Joseph to reveal his identity, which terrifies the brothers (779–796). Joseph kisses them, gives them gifts and sends them off to fetch their father, which they do (796–811). The story ends with Jacob’s arrival and reunion with Joseph (812–816). Evidence for a Syriac provenance may be discerned by a number of distinctive motifs incorporated into the narration of the Joseph story, such as Joseph’s visit to his mother’s grave on the way down to Egypt (268–299) and the return of Potiphar and his wife (627–646). Neither of these narrative additions appear elsewhere in the Greek exegetical or homiletic tradition. The early date of this text, the probable Syriac Vorlage, and the clear affinity that it has with other early Syriac sources, all demand that this text be given careful consideration in this study, certainly more than any of the other texts surviving in Greek or Armenian.

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85

Romanos (485–555), Kontakion on Joseph

Edition: Maas and Trypanis, Sancti Romani Melodi Cantica, 339–354; Grosdidier de Matons, Romanos le Mélode, i.195–245. Translation: Carpenter, Kontakia of Romanos, ii.81–98. Bibliography: Krumbacher, ‘Studien zu Romanos’; Schork, ‘Romanos On Joseph i’. Romanos, known as the Melodist (cpg 7570), was born in Emesa in 485. Though he is only known to have written in Greek, the recent scholarship of Sebastian Brock and Manolis Papoutsakis has amply demonstrated the influence of the contemporaneous Syriac literary tradition on Romanos.230 Romanos wrote two surviving kontakia on the Joseph story. The first, treated here, construes the entire life of Joseph and is the longest text in Romanos’s surviving corpus.231 The kontakion on Joseph treats the story of Joseph from his dreams to Jacob’s arrival in Egypt (Gen. 37, 39–46). The proem emphasizes Joseph’s prefiguration of Christ and Joseph’s exemplarity (Prooimion, stanzas 1–3). The story opens with Joseph’s dreams, the envy they inspire in his brothers, and Jacob’s rebuke (4–5). Joseph is told to go and look for his flock. The brothers see him coming and plan to kill him, but Reuben persuades them to throw him the cistern instead (6). Judah, foreshadowing Judas, decides to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites (7). The brothers bloody Joseph’s coat and present it to Jacob, who mourns (8). Meanwhile, Joseph realizes he will have to wait to see his dreams fulfilled (9). In Egypt, Joseph is taken into Potiphar’s house, where he is promoted by Potiphar and assaulted by his wife (10–12). Falsely accused of attempted rape, Joseph is thrown in prison (13). Romanos reproves Potiphar in an apostrophe for believing the false accusations (14). Joseph interprets dreams in the prison (15) and then in Pharaoh’s court (16). In charge of gathering food, Joseph meets his brothers as they are driven to Egypt by the famine (17). After a tense dialogue the brothers leave Egypt without Simeon (18–20). The brothers try to defend their actions to Jacob, who is distraught at the prospect of losing more children, especially Benjamin (21–25). He eventually relents and sends Benjamin back with the brothers to Egypt. As all the brothers bow down before him, Joseph sees that his first dream has been fulfilled (26). Joseph begins to feel 230 231

Brock, ‘From Ephrem to Romanos’; Brock, ‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’, 91–96; Papoutsakis, ‘Making of a Syriac Fable’. Schork, Sacred Song, 158.

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pity for his brothers (27), but he does not reveal himself to them, contriving instead to see his second dream fulfilled by capturing Benjamin, which he does (28–32). He can no longer restrain himself, however, and reveals his identity to the brothers (33–34). The brothers return home and bring Jacob back to be reunited with Joseph (35–39). In the epilogue the poet issues a call to temperance (40).

31

Romanos (485–555), Kontakion on Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

Edition: Maas and Trypanis, Sancti Romani Melodi Cantica, 354–367; Grosdidier de Matons, Romanos le Mélode, i.247–293. Translation: Carpenter, Kontakia of Romanos, i.99–114; Schork, Sacred Song, 158–175. Romanos’s second kontakion on Joseph focuses on the encounter with Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39). The stage is not set with any sort of narrative introduction. Instead, the proem is a meditation on chastity and virtue (Prooimion, stanza 1), with the story of Joseph presented ‘in order that we may all learn the very bright glory that virtue has and affords’ (2).232 The initial encounters between Joseph and Potiphar’s wife are described rather than enacted, building the tension in the poem (2–5). But then the Devil enters to ‘aid the Egyptian woman’, telling her that since she is ‘an old and sturdy hook, make ready the bait and fish for the young man’. He advises her to ‘make ready’ by adorning herself elaborately (6). The queen then combines her beauty with a barrage or arguments which Joseph rebuffs (7–11), leading to an extended dialogue in alternating stanzas (12–18), and Joseph fleeing from her, leaving behind his coat (19). The epilogue is an encomium on Joseph ‘the noble athlete’ (20– 22).

32

Ps Romanos, Kontakion on Joseph

Edition: Fragment edited in Pitra, Analecta Sacra, 477–478.233 Translation: None

232 233

Quotations are taken from Carpenter’s translation. Krumbacher ‘Studien zu Romanos’, 74 fn. 1, notes that the text is complete in a Patmos manuscript (Patmiacus 213 f. 66v–69v).

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Bibliography: Krumbacher, ‘Studien zu Romanos’, 217–219; Krumbacher, Akrostichis in der griechischen Kirchenpoesie, 614; Schork, ‘Romanos, On Joseph i’, 131 fn. 1. This work was originally thought by Krumbacher to be the first of a cycle of three kontakia on Joseph, but subsequently treated as dubious. This unpublished kontakion tells the story of Genesis 37 and 39, from Joseph’s youth until his imprisonment by Potiphar, with a brief mention of his ultimate triumph. Krumbacher notes that this poem ‘tells the story of Joseph’s youth in the tone of a saint’s life, suffers from rhetorical commonplaces, and breaks off suddenly where the tension begins’.234 It nonetheless includes such extra-biblical motifs as Joseph weeping and praying at his mother’s grave and Jacob doubting the brothers’ story of Joseph’s death because of the integrity of the coat. Both motifs are also found in the Greek poem on Joseph attributed to Ephrem (Text 28).

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Ps Ephrem, Armenian Commentary on Genesis

Edition: Mathews, Armenian Commentary on Genesis. Bibliography: Heal and Manis, ‘New Sources’. This prose commentary recounts and expounds on the story of Joseph from the dreams to the death of Jacob, including Jacob’s blessing (Gen. 49). Interestingly, the story of Judah and Tamar is treated prior to the story of Joseph allowing the narrative of the Joseph story to continue uninterrupted. There are clear instances of the influence of early Syriac sources.235

34

Armenian Story of Joseph

Edition: Stone, Armenian Apocrypha, 176–229. A prose narrative retelling the entire story of Joseph. Stone notes that the narrative follows the biblical story closely except for a significant narrative expan234

235

Krumbacher, ‘Studien zu Romanos’, 218: ‘das die Jugend Geschichte Josephs im Tone eines Heiligenlebens erzählt, leidet an rhetorischen Gemeinplätzen und bricht zu unvermittelt gerade da ab, wo die Spannung beginnt’. Heal and Manis, ‘New Sources’.

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sion (27–37) describing and expanding on the episode of Joseph at the grave of his mother. This latter expansion has clear connections with the Syriac tradition.236 The influence of the Syriac tradition is also evident elsewhere in the narrative.237 236 237

The early Syriac texts treating this scene are discussed in Heal, ‘Construal and Construction’, 29–32. For example, the role of Satan as the instigator of Potiphar’s wife in 41 has its roots in Syriac History of Joseph 17.13.

chapter 2

Joseph as a Type of Christ Every memra in which Christ the King is not mentioned Is rejected as foul and is not received by the congregation.1

∵ There are hints in the earliest lectionary readings and clear indications in Aphrahat that Joseph was construed as a type of Christ at a very early stage in the tradition.2 Yet in the earliest retellings of the life of Joseph, found in the Syriac History of Joseph and Ephrem’s Genesis commentary, the emphasis is narrative and parenetic. In later sources such an approach to Joseph was no longer sufficient, and typological connections with Jesus not only break into but also begin to shape the Joseph narrative. Even Narsai, who as a disciple of Theodore of Mopsuestia showed restraint when identifying types of Jesus in the Old Testament,3 makes the connection between Joseph and Jesus clear. Narsai’s connections are made in a more nuanced and considered way than they are in Joseph Son of Jacob. It is the study of Joseph Son of Jacob, however, that necessarily plays an important part in this chapter, for in this narrat-

1 Joseph Son of Jacob ii.43–44 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561). Argyle and Dulaey have explored the figure of Joseph as a type of Christ in Greek and Latin sources, but the Syriac sources have been largely neglected (Argyle, ‘Joseph the Patriarch’; Dulaey, ‘Joseph le patriarche, figure du Christ’). The theme, with citations from Aphrahat, is touched upon in Heither and Reemts, Schriftauslegung: Die Patriarchenerzählungen bei den Kirchenvätern, 156–159. There is also a brief mention of Aphrahat as a source for Joseph-Jesus typology in Klijn, Acts of Thomas, 22. An earlier version of this chapter appeared in byu Studies Quarterly (Heal, ‘Joseph as a Type of Christ’). 2 C.S.C. Williams follows R.C.P. Hanson in arguing that the first Christian martyr, Stephen, intended to portray Joseph as a type of Christ in his last speech (Acts 7:2–53) thus placing this typological connection at the very root of the Christian tradition (Williams, Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, 101). See also Lunn, ‘Allusions to the Joseph Narrative’. 3 For example, Wiles observes that ‘by the standards of his own day’, the number of cases in which Theodore of Mopsuestia sees a type or shadow of Christ in the Old Testament is ‘comparatively limited in number’ (Wiles, ‘Theodore of Mopsuestia’, 508). On the Antiochene school in the Syriac tradition, see Haar Romeny, Syrian in Greek Dress, 89–100; and Van Rompay, ‘Antiochene Biblical Interpretation’.

© Kristian S. Heal, 2023 | doi:10.1163/9789004526969_004

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ive poem Joseph is claimed for Jesus with strident assurance. The author approaches the story of Joseph as a hagiographer, for whom, ‘in all circumstances, hagiography is based on the life and death of Christ’.4 The brush strokes may not be overly fine, but as the author paints, as it were, a diptych of the lives of Joseph and Jesus, there is no doubt about how Joseph is to be construed. Joseph Son of Jacob thus performs Christological typology by embracing it as the hermeneutical key to the performance of this story. Whereas the author of Joseph Son of Jacob shaped the Joseph narrative to better prefigure the life of Christ, Jacob of Serugh repeatedly transgresses the generic boundaries of the narrative poem in order to preach the life of Jesus through the story of Joseph. The story of Joseph is, in Jacob’s hands, serving the homiletic imperative. Preaching Joseph means that the continuity and development of the narrative is sacrificed for typological and parenetic messaging. As with Aphrahat, the homiletic genre privileges a performance of Christological typology. A study of Jacob’s typology thus forms the natural culmination of this chapter.

Early Syriac Lectionaries An early and easily overlooked piece of evidence for the Christianisation of the Joseph narrative in the Syriac tradition is found in London, British Library Additional 14528f. 152–228,5 a sixth-century parchment codex that contains an index of the lectionary readings for the festivals of the whole year. This list was composed, according to Baumstark, before the Council of Ephesus in 431,6 and it suggests that a highly developed system of biblical lections was in use in the earliest stages of the Syriac liturgy.7 The manuscript is significant because it lists among the Old Testament readings prescribed for Easter the account of the binding of Isaac8 and substantial excerpts from the story of Joseph.9

4 5 6 7

8 9

Brock and Harvey, Holy Women, 14. Described briefly by Wright (Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum, 176– 177), and thoroughly by Burkitt (‘Early Syriac Lectionary System’). Baumstark, Comparative Liturgy, 122. Baumstark argues, however, that this list represents the cumulative readings for a whole region, rather than a single church. The argument is usefully summarized in Jenner, ‘Development of the Syriac Lectionary Systems’, 13–14. Gen. 22:1–19 (Good Friday; Eve of Easter). Gen. 37:1–36 (Thursday before Good Friday); Gen. 40:1–23 (Good Friday—optional); Gen. 42:3–43:14 (Holy Saturday—optional); Gen. 40:1–23 (Holy Saturday—optional); Gen. 43:15–45:13 (Easter Day—optional). Jenner’s collection of data from eighth century lec-

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These Easter readings show how thoroughly certain Old Testament stories were absorbed into the Christian story. As Ephrem Lash notes, it is axiomatic in Eastern Christian thought that ‘the two testaments form a single revelation, and that the whole of the Old Testament looks forward to, typifies, or, one could say, is an icon of the New’.10 It seems most likely that the early Syriac lectionary developed both from the inherited practice of lectio continua and the free selection of pertinent scriptural pericopes. As Baumstark has observed, for the most holy feasts, ‘the use of lections freely chosen and having reference to the Feast of the day was too natural not to have been the rule’.11 Perhaps, therefore, the lectionary may be seen as a distillation of exegesis, a starkly presented series of testimonia and types, whose relevance would be introduced and reinforced through sermon and song.12 The demonstrable connections made between the story of the binding of Isaac and the passion narrative confirms that these lections and the events they commemorated are intrinsically linked.13 Aphrahat also confirms what this list suggests, namely that one strand of the Syriac tradition saw Joseph principally as a type of Christ and considered his story entirely apposite as an Easter reading.

Aphrahat14 Aphrahat would surely agree that ‘typology is characteristic of the Christian tradition and deeply engrained in its reading of scripture’.15 In Demonstration 21, Aphrahat compiled a list of biblical characters who were persecuted, contrasting their fate with that of their persecutors. The list starts with conflict

10 11

12

13 14 15

tionaries suggests that portions of the Joseph story continued to be read during Holy Week in the West Syrian tradition (Jenner, Perikopentitels, 374). Lash, ‘Mary in Eastern Church Literature’, 58. Baumstark, Comparative Liturgy, 122. Baudot had earlier argued that this practice began in the third century with the rise of the office of lector (Baudot, Lectionary, 8–9, where he also instructively cites Origen’s discussion of the adoption of Job as a Lenten reading). That this holds true for the later tradition is confirm by Badger: ‘It is worthy of note that the selections from the Gospels and the Epistles, read during the celebration of the Nestorian liturgy, are strikingly adapted to the several occasions for which they are appointed, and are generally remarkable for their devotional and practical character’ (Badger, Nestorians and Their Rituals, ii.21). See Brock, ‘Genesis 22 in Syriac Tradition’, esp. 13–19. I cite Aphrahat by Demonstration and section, followed by the volume, column and line number of the edition of Parisot. Young, ‘Typology’, 43.

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within Isaac’s family: ‘Jacob was persecuted, and Esau was the persecutor. Jacob received blessings and the right of the first born, but Esau was rejected from them both’. Aphrahat then jumps to fraternal persecution in the next generation: ‘Joseph was persecuted, and his brothers were the persecutors. Joseph was exalted and his persecutors bowed down before him and his dreams and visions were accomplished’.16 At this point, Aphrahat’s sequence transforms into a comparison series by means of a single connecting line: ‘And the persecuted Joseph is like the persecuted Jesus’.17 It is as though hidden within that simple conjunction ‘and’ is Aphrahat’s realization that this is an opportunity to explore this theme extensively. The move is both typological and rhetorical. Aphrahat transitions from the theme of the consequences of persecution to the productive work of typological foreshadowing. There are, to be sure, instances in Aphrahat’s list of eighteen examples of how the life and figure of Joseph can be compared with that of Jesus that do take up the theme of persecution. But this is no longer the objective of the rhetorical device. The passage deserves to be given in full: [1] Joseph’s father clothed him with the long-sleeved coat, and the Father of Jesus clothed Him with a body from the virgin. [2] Joseph’s father loved him more than his brothers, and Jesus was the darling and beloved of his Father. [3] Joseph saw visions and dreamed dreams, and Jesus fulfilled visions and the prophets. [4] Joseph was a shepherd with his brothers, and Jesus was the chief of the shepherds. [5] When Joseph’s father sent him to visit his brothers, they saw him coming and planned to kill him; and, when His Father sent Jesus to visit His brothers, they said ‘this is the heir, come, let us kill him’ (Matt. 21:38).18 [6] Joseph’s brothers cast him into the pit and the brothers of Jesus sent him down in the grave. [7] Joseph came up from the pit, and Jesus arose from the grave. [8] After Joseph came up from the pit he ruled over his brothers; and after Jesus arose from the grave his Father gave him an excellent and great name so that his brothers were subject to him, and his enemies were laid beneath his feet. [9] When Joseph saw his brothers, they were ashamed and afraid and marvelled at his majesty; and when Jesus comes in the latter time, when he is revealed in his majesty, his brothers who crucified him will be 16 17 18

Aphrahat, Demonstration 21.9 (Parisot, Aphraatis, i.953:3–8). Aphrahat, Demonstration 21.9 (Parisot, Aphraatis, i.953:8–9). On the use of the Parable of the Wicked Tenants in Aphrahat and Ephrem, see Valavanolickal, Use of the Gospel Parables, 133–148.

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ashamed and afraid and greatly alarmed in his presence. [10] Now, Joseph was sold into Egypt at the advice of Judah; and Jesus was delivered to the Jews by Judas Iscariot. [11] When they sold Joseph, he did not answer a word to his brothers; and Jesus did not speak or respond to the judges who judged him.19 [12] Joseph’s master delivered him unjustly to prison; and the sons of his people condemned Jesus unjustly. [13] Twice Joseph gave up his garments, once by means of his brothers and once by the hand of his master’s wife; and Jesus yielded up His garments and the soldiers divided them among themselves. [14] Joseph, as a thirty-year-old, stood before Pharaoh and became a lord to Egypt; and Jesus, as a thirty-yearold, came to the Jordan to be baptized and he received the spirit and went out to preach. [15] Joseph provided food for the Egyptians with bread; and Jesus provided for the whole world with the bread of life. [16] Joseph took the daughter of a wicked and foul priest; and Jesus took to himself the church from the unclean nations.20 [17] Joseph died and was buried in Egypt, and Jesus died and was buried in Jerusalem. [18] The brothers of Joseph took up his bones from Egypt; and the Father of Jesus raised him up from the grave and took his body with him to heaven without corruption.21 Aphrahat’s list of comparisons seems at first to be arranged in narrative order. He leads the reader through the story of Joseph, singling out those instances where he sees, or knows of an analogue with the life of Jesus. The system becomes more complex, however, with examples six through thirteen. Here there is evidence of a conflation of events, whereby the burial of Jesus is typified by both Joseph being cast into the pit, and his confinement in prison.22 By means of a kind of typological synonymity,23 Aphrahat is able to link the events surrounding the burial of Jesus with events involving both the brothers (6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13) and Potiphar and his wife (12, 13). Viewed through this lens, the narrative order is rearranged, and the episodes with brothers that occurred after Joseph’s promotion by Pharaoh (14), are ineluctably attracted, as a complement, to the events surrounding the pit/prison (8, 9).

19 20 21 22 23

I discuss this comparison below. Cited in Murray, Symbols, 135–136. Aphrahat, Demonstration 21.9 (Parisot, Aphraatis, i.953:9–957:10). Doubtless Aphrahat was prompted by the fact that both the cistern and the prison are referred to by the same Syriac word (焏‫ܒ‬熏‫)ܓ‬, as in Gen. 37:28 and Gen. 41:14. Another example of what Papoutsakis calls, ‘Sustained fusion, not confusion’ (‘Making of a Syriac Fable’, 46).

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The significance of Aphrahat mentioning Joseph’s wife as part of his typological narrative deserves attention (16). Among the early Syriac Joseph texts, only the Syriac History of Joseph mentions Joseph’s wife, and there only briefly, and with clear dependence upon the Peshitta.24 In Aphrahat, however, Joseph is made to appear more proactive in the betrothal than is suggested by either the Syriac History or the Genesis account. There is much to suggest that this refinement was made to draw the analogy more effectively with Christ likewise taking a bride (the Church) from among the Nations.25 Aphrahat is not alone in making this connection. The same use of Asenath is also found in Ephrem’s madrashe, though, interestingly, she is not mentioned at all in Ephrem’s Commentary on Genesis.26 Aphrahat’s use of this event to typify the supplanting of the Nation (the Jews) by the Nations (the Gentiles) is somewhat predictable, since it draws on a theme widely prevalent in both his and Ephrem’s corpora.27 Interestingly, this sequence and those that follow are part of a sustained refutation of the Jews.28 Thus, both here, and elsewhere in this sequence (5, 6, 8, 9, 12), Aphrahat does not lose sight of his principal objective, which is to repeatedly defend the validity of the Christian faith against the claims of the

24 25

26

27

28

The Syriac History simply states, ‘[Pharaoh] gave Joseph a wife, the daughter of Potiphera the priest’ (Syriac History of Joseph 23.11; Gen. 41:45). There is nothing to suggest that Aphrahat was aware of the Asenath traditions known in Greek sources of the time (for a recent discussion of the dating of the Joseph and Asenath narrative, see Humphrey, Joseph and Asenath, 28–38). All evidence suggests that this story only came into the Syriac tradition in the 6th century, as part of the chronicle of Pseudo Zacharias Rhetor (Brock, Brief Outline, 38), and that it never truly caught the imagination of the Syriac Christians. See description of Text 27 in chapter 1 above. Though Ephrem does not mention Joseph being given a wife in his Commentary on Genesis, he does include the blessings of Joseph’s children, principally, I suspect, to make the typological link between Jacob crossing his hands when blessing Ephraim and Manasseh and the cross of Christ, and to point out that through Christ the Nations (the Gentiles) would supersede the Nation (the Jews), as Ephraim did Manasseh (Commentary on Genesis 41.4). Elsewhere, however, Ephrem does specifically identify Asenath (by name) as a type of the church of the gentiles (Hymns on Virginity 21, 9; cited in Murray, Symbols, 135– 136). The stanza is, however, largely reconstructed, so caution should be advised in making too much of it. On the Nation and the Nations in Aphrahat and other early sources, see Murray, Symbols, 41–68. Note Demonstration 16, which presents a list of fifty testimonia devoted to the theme of ‘the Nations taking the place of the Nation’ (mentioned in Murray, Symbols, 43). The classic treatment of Aphrahat and the Jews is Neusner, Aphrahat and the Jews. See, however, more recent assessments in Koltun-Fromm, Hermeneutics of Holiness; and Lizorkin, Aphrahat’s Demonstrations (not without problems, but contains useful material on comparative praxis).

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Jews.29 The themes of the Nation and the Nations and of the Church as a bride are consistently appealed to by Aphrahat to this end.30 Joseph is not the only biblical character whose life Aphrahat sees as being like that of the Lord. In fact, the section beginning with the comparison of Joseph and Jesus turns into something of a tour de force in which Aphrahat makes comparisons between the lives of twelve Old Testament figures and the life of the Lord: Moses (14 comparisons), Joshua (8 comparisons), Jephthah (3 comparisons), David (11 comparisons), Elijah (7 comparisons), Elisha (7 comparisons), Hezekiah (10 comparisons), Josiah (7 comparisons), Daniel (17 comparisons), the Three Young Men (7 comparisons) and Mordecai (10 comparisons). This celebration of similes displays not only Aphrahat’s intimate knowledge of the Old Testament, but also the extent to which the Old Testament is seen as the promise of Jesus.

Joseph Son of Jacob Aphrahat’s construal of Joseph as a type of Christ appears to influence the construal of the Joseph narrative in Joseph Son of Jacob. There is good evidence that Aphrahat was read later in the tradition,31 but there are only a few persuasive instances of a later, or even contemporary, author being directly influenced by the Demonstrations.32 It is all the more important, therefore, to be sensitive to 29

30 31

32

In Demonstration 21, Aphrahat refutes the claim of a Jewish sage who the persecution of Christian church as evidence of its falsity (Parisot, Aphraatis, i.932). However, though this general theme forms the backbone of the demonstration it is also clear that Aphrahat’s comparisons touch on several other aspects of the Christian-Jewish debate. On Demonstration 21, see Murray, Symbols, 41 (with a nice comparison between Aphrahat’s and Ephrem’s approach to the Jews). On Israel and the Church as a bride in Aphrahat and Ephrem, see Murray, Symbols, 131–142; Brock, Luminous Eye, 116–126; Bruns, Christusbild Aphrahats, 172–175. William Wright reviews the references in the preface to his edition, the most extensive of which is a letter by George, Bishop of the Arabs (d. 724), to the priest Yeshua, which discusses various aspects of the Demonstrations (Wright, Homilies of Aphraates, 1–4; George’s letter is reproduced on 18–37). Regarding Ephrem’s knowledge of Aphrahat, Murray’s position is the most pessimistic: ‘There is no evident probability that Ephrem knew the Demonstrations’ (Symbols, 338). Valavanolickal, drawing on his extensive study of the parables in both authors, sees clear verbal parallels between the two authors and so is more willing to entertain the notion of direct knowledge (Aphrahat’s Demonstrations, i.16, esp n. 53, where he cites studies by Botha and Brock that also suggest direct knowledge of Aphrahat by Ephrem). More evidence of the influence of Aphrahat has been adduced recently in Van Rompay ‘Aphrahat, “A Student of the Holy Scriptures” ’; and Papoutsakis, Vicarious Kingship.

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possible connections between Aphrahat and Joseph Son of Jacob. Further to pursuing the origins of Joseph Son of Jacob’s Joseph-Jesus typology, however, I am even more concerned to show how seeing Joseph as a type of Christ affected this retelling of the Joseph story.33 Thus, I seek to demonstrate for Joseph Son of Jacob what David Lane has observed with Šubhalmaran, namely that ‘the authority of scripture rests upon the authority of the figure of Jesus, to whom scripture points and from whom it depends: [scripture] may therefore be shaped in order to make his outline clearer’.34 It is this process of shaping scripture that is of particular interest.35 In the second memra of Joseph Son of Jacob, the author makes it clear that he sees Christological typology as the central hermeneutical function of the biblical story of Joseph.36 ‘This wondrous story’, he states, ‘[…] is full of symbols and types of the Son of God’.37 The author later says that in telling the story of Joseph he is, in fact, also telling the story of Jesus: ‘The story of Joseph will proceed now, as well as that of the Messiah, and we will see how much the story of this one (Joseph) is like [the story] of that one (Jesus)’.38 As Frances Young notes of most typological readings of the Old Testament stories, ‘The point is that the narrative is prophetic’.39 33 34 35

36

37

38 39

I disagree with Näf’s assertion that typology has ‘no influence on the narrative itself’ (Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 52: ‘keinen Einfluß auf die Erzählung selbst’). Lane, ‘Well of Life’, 50 (emphasis mine). A useful comparison may be made with John of Ephesus’s treatment of the life of Euphemia. Brock and Harvey argue that although in John’s portrait Euphemia’s life is ‘the perfect imitation of Christ’s ministry and suffering’, he has ‘not imposed this interpretation on the story he tells, so much as used the model of Christ to understand the meaning of Euphemia and her work’ (Holy Women, 15). It seems that for Joseph Son of Jacob, Christ is more than simply the hermeneutical key to the story of Joseph, though the difference between the two approaches may perhaps be one of intensity rather than kind. Weinberg pointed out the significance of Christological typology in this work, but does not elaborate (Geschichte Josefs, 7 n.1). Näf notes the comparison series in the proem of the second memra of Joseph Son of Jacob, together with two isolated allusions, but is otherwise convinced that typology ‘does not affect the narrative itself’ (Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 51–52: ‘keinen Einfluss auf die Erzählung selbst’). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.20–21 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 560). See also Joseph Son of Jacob ii.57 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561): ‘Joseph and his brothers depicted the type of our Lord in their deeds’. Other hermeneutical functions are also attributed to Joseph. See, for example, Joseph Son of Jacob i.780–783 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 558), in which the function of Joseph as one who conquered bodily desires is mentioned: ‘Blessed be the one who chose Joseph the just and made him triumph in the land, and set him up as a model and example for all the just ones, that they might be delivered from bodily desires and inherit the new good life of the Kingdom’. Joseph Son of Jacob ii.59–60 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561). Young, ‘Typology’, 36.

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Retelling the Joseph story in terms of Christological typology is presented not only as an appropriate interpretation of the biblical narrative but also a necessary one. For, in making this aspect central, the author succeeds in making Christ central to the narrative and thereby, in his eyes, ensuring that his work is of some lasting value to its listeners. As the author puts it, ‘The word of the homily is very sweet to the listeners when it is spoken with the voices of the spirit of prophecy.40 Every homily, then, in which Christ the King is not mentioned, is rejected as foul and is not received by the listeners’.41 The author, therefore, calls the discerning to give heed to this story and appreciate its abundance of Christological types.42 Only then is one able to drink from the cup of Joseph and become full and gladly intoxicated, for ‘the blood of the messiah is mingled in the cup of the son of Israel’.43 This last line is doubly significant for the author. Firstly, the line refers to the Lord ‘put[ting] his testimony in Joseph’,44 an allusion to Psalms 81:6 signifying that the Lord ordained Joseph to act as a type of Christ.45 Secondly, in a more general sense, the Lord was in Israel. As the author says earlier: ‘The leaven of life was hidden in the Israelite people until the time that the light shone forth from them for the world’.46 Joseph’s role in the preservation of Israel was essential, therefore, not only that the house of Israel might abound numerically, but also for the coming forth of the Messiah. These two results are linked to the promise made to Abraham that his seed would multiply and that all the nations would be blessed through him and his seed.47 So it was for the purpose of fulfilling both clauses of the Abrahamic promise that ‘the 40

41 42 43 44 45 46 47

At first blush this line appears to refer to Rev. 19:10: 焏‫ ܪܘܚ‬煿ܿ‫ܝ‬狏‫ܥ ܐܝ‬熏‫ ܕܝܫ‬犯‫ܕܘܬܐ ܓܝ‬煿‫ܣ‬ ‫ܬܐ‬熏‫‘ ܕܢܒܝ‬For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’. However, in the preceding two lines the author observes that in telling the story of Joseph he is following the scriptural account (emphasizing the importance of doing so) and it would therefore seem more likely that the ‘spirit of prophecy’ refers back to the ‫ܬܐ‬熏‫‘ ܢܒܝ‬prophecy’ of Moses invoked in Joseph Son of Jacob i.2 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 521). On the use of the phrase ‘spirit of prophecy’ in Targumic and Syriac literature, see Brock, ‘Jewish Traditions’, 214 n.8. The phrase ‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ ܕܢܒܝ‬焏‫ ܪܘܚ‬appears twice in Narsai (Narsai memra 2 On Revelations to Patriarchs and Prophets (ii) 653 [M i.49]; Narsai memra 31 Against the Jews 236 [M i.306]). What is more frequent in Narsai is the phrase ‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ ܕܢܒܝ‬焏‫‘ ܩܠ‬the voice of prophecy’. Joseph Son of Jacob ii.41–44 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.20–21 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 560). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.31–34 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 560). On the theology of blood in Joseph Son of Jacob, see chapter 4 below. Joseph Son of Jacob ii.19 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 559); and ii.17, 80 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 559, 562). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.79–80 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 562). Joseph Son of Jacob i.770–771 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 558). Joseph Son of Jacob i.753 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 557).

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Lord sent him as a remnant before the sons of Jacob, that he might save them alive so they would not perish from famine’.48 The metaphorical presence of Christ in Israel is employed later in the second homily when the brothers are about to return to Joseph with Benjamin. In the biblical narrative, Judah offers some assurance to his father by saying that he will ‘be surety for [Benjamin]’.49 The scene is considerably expanded in this retelling. The author of Joseph Son of Jacob sees an opportunity to explain why Judah’s surety for Benjamin is expected. To give prominence to this theme, and raise the dramatic effect, the text gives the initiative to Jacob, who actually demands a surety for Benjamin. Jacob is confident that unless this is done, the propensities of his children will result in him eventually having to mourn for both sons of Rachel.50 Reuben steps up first and offers his two sons as surety. Reuben’s pledge, however, is not received because Jacob ‘will not receive the son who dishonoured the bed of his father’.51 Seeing Reuben’s failure, Levi offers to pledge his own son for the sake of Benjamin, to which Jacob responds by saying ‘the sin and iniquity that you have done is more evil than that of your brother’.52 Jacob is concerned because of Levi’s angry temperament that had caused him to take revenge upon the Shechemites,53 and because he thought that Levi would simply exchange Benjamin for Simeon in order to save his companion in vengeance: ‘And perhaps, instead of [Simeon] you will hand over [Benjamin] that your brother [Simeon] may be saved’.54 Seeing the failure of his brothers to offer an acceptable pledge to their father due to their past misdeeds, Judah, who also wanted to offer himself as a pledge, is understandably reticent.55 Nevertheless, he does offer himself as a pledge and his pledge is accepted. Jacob is willing to overlook Judah’s misdeeds and entrust Benjamin to him because, ‘God almighty has entrusted you with the Son and from you he shall shine forth’.56 Jacob is not so much

48 49 50

51 52 53 54 55 56

Joseph Son of Jacob i.726–727 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 556), with reference to Gen. 45:7. Gen. 43:9. Joseph Son of Jacob ii.93–96 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 563). Note that Joseph Son of Jacob diverges here not only from the Peshitta but also from the Syriac History which does follow the Peshitta. Joseph Son of Jacob ii.430 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 579). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.435 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 579). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.436–437 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 579), with reference to Gen. 34:25–40. Joseph Son of Jacob ii.439 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 579). Gen. 38. Joseph Son of Jacob ii.458 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 580). For a discussion of the signi-

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delivering Benjamin to Judah, but rather ‘to the Treasury of Life that is kept within [his] limbs’.57 In this instance it is Judah who provides the link with Christ.58 The author of this narrative poem was not content to simply point out that the story of Joseph ‘is full of symbols and types of the son of God’,59 but, like Aphrahat, offers his own list of examples in the form of a comparison series.60 Prior to giving the comparison series, the author tells of the great famine in the land of Canaan and how necessity had called the brothers, the eleven stars, to go down to Egypt: ‘They went down to the land of Egypt and bowed down before the dreamer of dreams’.61 The ‘great symbol of the son of God’ caused them to go down and worship ‘the son of Rachel’, because that is exactly what will ‘happen to all the crucifiers on the day of resurrection’.62 The author is so overwhelmed with the Christological typology that he is not ‘permitted to go on with the story quickly’, but must rather demonstrate how much the story of Joseph is like that of Jesus: 1. Joseph dreamed dreams of his brothers, but they did not believe it. And as much as he dreamed, the treacherous brothers hated him much (more). Our Lord spoke with the crucifiers in parables, and the more he spoke the more they envied him. 2. Joseph interpreted for the Egyptians and they believed, as also the gentiles believed in our Lord and his parables. 3. Joseph revealed himself to his brothers in the inner chamber, and the Lord of Joseph revealed (himself) to his disciples in the upper room. 4. His mistress confined Joseph the just in prison and Zion confined our Saviour in the tomb.

57 58

59 60

61 62

ficance of Judah as a progenitor of Christ in Ephrem’s interpretation of Genesis 38, see Kronholm, ‘Holy Adultery’, 149–163. Joseph Son of Jacob ii.462–463 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 580). This idea was also familiar to Aphrahat. For example, Demonstration 4.6: ‘And in [Jacob’s] loins was Judah the lion’s whelp, in whom was hidden Christ the King’ (cited in Murray, Symbols, 46). Ephrem refers to the theme in Commentary on Genesis 27:1 (with reference to Jacob); and 34.2; Hymns on Nativity 1.12; 9.10–11; and 15.8; Hymns on Virginity 22:19. I am grateful to Yifat Monnickendam for these references. Joseph Son of Jacob ii.20–21 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 560). The author also introduces the comparison series using a line very similar to that used by Aphrahat: ‘Joseph and his brothers depicted the type of our Lord in their deeds’ ( Joseph Son of Jacob ii.57 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561]). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.49 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.50–52 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561).

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5.

Joseph went out from prison and took off his outer garments, while our Lord went out from the tomb and put on glory. 6. Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh just as they were, and he sat upon the throne and was a king of the whole of Egypt. And our Lord revealed and made himself known to his disciples and ascended and sat on the right hand of the Father, who sent him. 7. Joseph purchased the whole of Egypt with ordinary bread, and the Lord of Joseph [purchased] the whole of creation with his body and his blood.63 The comparison sequence is not intended to be exhaustive, hence the author’s admonition to the discerning to give heed to the story.64 Furthermore, the author makes a number of other links to the life of Christ during the course of the narrative, often by means of adding specific rhetorical connections to the New Testament.65 These links divide into two groups, those in which there is an explicit typological reference made and those in which the typological connection appears to be intended, though it is left implicit in the narrative. I have approached the identification of the latter group by two steps. Firstly, by means of the explicit typological references, it is possible to build up a picture of the events in the life of Joseph that are construed as corresponding to events in the life of Jesus. With few exceptions, all of the explicit typological links are made to the trial and death, and the resurrection and second coming of the Lord. Secondly, I have examined the portions of the narrative in which typological links are likely to occur to see whether any specific rhetorical links have been added at that point to the New Testament text. The author of Joseph Son of Jacob appears to be following Aphrahat’s interpretive model in linking the trial and death of the Lord with two events in the life of Joseph. Thus, Joseph Son of Jacob provides two instances in which Joseph is stripped of his garments;66 two people who petition for the life of

63 64 65

66

Joseph Son of Jacob ii.61–78 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561–562). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.20 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 560). For example, when Joseph visits his mother’s grave on the way to Egypt (treated in chapter 5 below) two typological connections are made. In Joseph Son of Jacob i.213 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 522), Joseph calls out to both his Lord and his mother linking the passage with the account of Jesus on the cross (John 19:25–27; Matt. 27:46). In Joseph Son of Jacob i.229 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 532), Rachel provides comfort to Joseph by pointing out that he is prefiguring the Lord who is also prepared to be sold and redeem Creation. This reference also points forward to Joseph’s role as a saviour for his family. Joseph Son of Jacob i.373–376 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 539); see also Demonstration 21.9. Joseph’s nakedness is not specifically mentioned in the biblical account of the episode

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Joseph;67 and two individuals who are instrumental in bringing about Joseph’s demise.68 Of these six links, however, only one is made explicitly, which is found in an exegetical comment on Reuben’s suggestion to throw Joseph in the pit: ‘[Reuben] did not say [this] out of wickedness, but he said this out of loving kindness for the sake of [Joseph’s] life. [He] did not say this word of himself; goodness placed the word in his mouth and thus he spoke. Other things were in the heart of Reuben but this in his mouth because he wanted to deliver [Joseph] and send him back to his father. How much Reuben struggled for the sake of Joseph just as Pilate strove for the sake of Jesus’.69 The corresponding instance is where Potiphar is struggling for Joseph’s freedom against the word of his wife. In the biblical narrative, Potiphar’s wrath is immediately kindled upon hearing the accusation made by his wife, and he throws Joseph into prison (Gen. 39:19–20). Joseph Son of Jacob recasts this account so that Potiphar replies to the accusation made by his wife: ‘If you are pure, why does the garment of the slave remain with you? If Joseph came to lie with you, he would have taken your garment and not you his. Behold, your lack (of intelligence) is revealed together with your transgression’.70 The ingenious Potiphar proceeds, Sherlock Holmes-like, by suggesting that both Joseph and his wife should stand before him and then he would be able to see from their faces which one is the guilty party. For obvious reasons, Potiphar’s wife calls this plan madness and sets about insisting that Joseph be cast into jail. Her argument is subtle, the convincing line being, ‘For I am no longer able to see him in front of me in this house’.71 Potiphar replies: ‘I will hearken to you […]

67 68 69 70 71

with Potiphar’s wife. It seems to have been added by the author of Joseph Son of Jacob to make the twofold typological link. Reuben ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.103–112 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 526]); Potiphar ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.431–439 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 542]). Judah ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.98–102, i.137–142 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 526, 528]); Potiphar’s wife ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.440–445, ii.69 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 542, 562]). Joseph Son of Jacob i.105–112 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 526). Joseph Son of Jacob i.431–434 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 542). Joseph Son of Jacob i.443 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 542). Note that when Joseph is reporting to Potiphar’s wife about how he had been instructed concerning her, Joseph observes that Potiphar ‘admonished [him] exceedingly’ on this point ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.339 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537]). Also of interest is part of Joseph’s response to Potiphar: ‘I am wronged by this debauched one, but if I say that it is not true who will believe me? For she is the mistress and everything she desires is lawful to her, and you hearken in everything she says and you believe’ ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.448–451 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 542]). Perhaps an implicit warning that a husband who is ruled over by his wife risks becoming a cuckold.

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and send him to prison according to your will’.72 The link between Potiphar and Pilate is suggested further by the connection the author makes in his comparison series between Potiphar’s wife and the Jews who brought about the death of Jesus: ‘His mistress confined Joseph the Just to prison, and Zion confined our saviour to the tomb’.73 Potiphar’s wife also seems to be the subject of a different typological link made while narrating her attempt to seduce Joseph. In the biblical narrative the only reported speech from Potiphar’s wife is, ‘Lie with me’ (Gen. 39:12). In Joseph Son of Jacob there is a fuller account of her persuasive ways: ‘Hear me Joseph, because I love you, and receive my promise and carry out my desire and let not your heart be troubled because of Potiphar, for I can kill him quickly with poison. Now, instead of a servant, be a king and lord of the house. Lie with me Joseph and serve my will and don’t be afraid, and be mine and I and whatsoever belongs to me is yours’.74 This offer of kingship and dominion as part of the temptation evokes the temptation of Jesus by the devil.75 The connection is supported by a later apostrophe praising Joseph’s resisting of temptation, during which the author concludes that ‘The Chief of the Air hid a snare for you by the agency of Eve’.76 The two-fold theme continues after Joseph is made regent. Whereas in the biblical narrative Potiphar and his wife are no more heard of, in Joseph Son of Jacob an extended account is given of the reaction of Potiphar and his wife to the news of Joseph’s newly exalted position. Potiphar is racked with guilt and fear thinking, ‘Perhaps [Joseph] will remember that thing I did to him and will kill me’. Joseph forgives him, however, saying, ‘It was not your fault that this folly […] came about’.77 Potiphar’s wife is understandably even more concerned; she fears for her life and ‘storms gather […] in her eyes’.78 She confesses her sin to her husband and dictates to her scribe a petition begging forgiveness, which she delivers to Joseph. After reading the petition, Joseph ‘dismissed her with peace and her mind was at rest’.79 By inserting this account, the author creates a neat chiastic pattern of events. At the centre of this pattern of events is Joseph

72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79

Joseph Son of Jacob i.444–445 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 542). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.69–70 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 562). Joseph Son of Jacob i.322–327 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536–537). Matt. 4:8–9. Joseph Son of Jacob i.369 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 539). This whole episode is treated in more detail in chapter 7. Joseph Son of Jacob i.629, 633 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 551). Joseph Son of Jacob i.660 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 552). Joseph Son of Jacob i.705 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 555).

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being exalted in Egypt, linked both implicitly and explicitly with the glorious return of the Lord:80 Joseph departs from his father. The brothers throw Joseph in the pit and sell him to Egypt. Potiphar and his wife cast Joseph into Prison. Joseph is exalted in Egypt. Joseph meets Potiphar and his wife and forgives them. The brothers come to Egypt and are reunited with Joseph. [Joseph is reunited with his father]. Though not the most poetically beautiful of the works on Joseph,81 this pair of memre certainly excels in its imaginative use of typology and narrative expansion. The author of Joseph Son of Jacob has succeeded in his aim of putting Christ at the heart of the poem by, so it seems, drawing and building upon Aphrahat’s typological framework. Joseph Son of Jacob includes both direct and indirect typological references and expands the narrative to bring out this hermeneutical function of Joseph more fully. A closer comparison between the two sources suggests, furthermore, that the influence of Aphrahat may not be simply confined to general themes and rhetorical approach, but may extend to particular parallels and exegetical ideas. There at least five points of contact between Aphrahat and Joseph Son of Jacob that highlight their similarities as well as their differences: 1 The Silent vs. the Articulate Lamb Early Syriac writers saw the silent suffering of Christ symbolized in both scripture and nature. Cyrillona, who along with others explored the passion in terms of vine imagery,82 explicitly ‘compares the silence of the vine when it is picked or cut down to Christ’s silence in the Passion’.83 Aphrahat seems to know the metaphor, but in his eleventh comparison he finds his referent in scripture rather than nature, seeing Joseph’s silence while being abused and sold by his brothers (Gen. 37:23–29) as a foreshadowing of Jesus before the judges (Matt. 80 81 82 83

See also Joseph Son of Jacob ii.50–58, ii.71–72 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561, 562); Aphrahat, Demonstration 21.9. Näf considered Joseph Son of Jacob to be stylistically and literarily deficient, especially compared to Balai (Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 15, 36). Murray (Symbols, 122, n. 1) cites the Cave of Treasures as a further example. Murray, Symbols, 122, referring to line 299–304 of the homily on the Pasch (see now, Griffin, Works of Cyrillona, 118–121). The reference to Christ as the ‘silent one’ in Hymns on Nativity 3.3 seems to refer rather to Christ as divine (Murray, Symbols, 355–356).

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26:63; Mark 14:61).84 For the author of Joseph Son of Jacob, however, though this tradition fits into his typological schema, he seems neither able to let Joseph be silent nor willing to cede the Christological comparison, and thus Joseph becomes the ‘Articulate Lamb’ (焏‫ܐ ܡܠܝܠ‬犯‫)ܐܡ‬,85 pleading his cause vigorously before his brothers.86 2 The Dreams of Joseph Both Aphrahat and Joseph Son of Jacob find Joseph’s dreams to be a conjunction with the life of the Lord. For Aphrahat, however, the link is one of contrast: Whereas Joseph saw visions and dreams, Jesus fulfilled them. Joseph Son of Jacob, however, sees instead an opportunity to compare the reaction of Joseph’s brothers to his dreams with the reaction of the Jews (here referred to generically as ‘crucifiers’) to the parables of Jesus, and thus pursue both his Christological and anti-Jewish agendas (on which see below).87 3 Who Cast Joseph into Prison? At this point there is a close connection between the two series. Both Aphrahat and Joseph Son of Jacob see a comparison between Joseph being unjustly cast into prison and Jesus unjustly being condemned. Where the main difference lies is in who was responsible for Joseph’s incarceration. Aphrahat follows a literal reading of the Peshitta and declaims that Potiphar delivered Joseph up to the prison, whereas Joseph Son of Jacob remains focused on the cause of Joseph’s incarceration and places the responsibility upon Potiphar’s wife. The two also differ in their terms for the Jews. Aphrahat calls them ‘the sons of his people’, whereas Joseph Son of Jacob uses the metrically convenient ‘Zion’ (‫ܢ‬熏‫)ܨܗܝ‬. 4 Bread and the Living Bread Again, there is a very close connection between the two sources. At the heart of the comparison is the symbol of Jesus as the bread of life (John 6:35), 84

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87

In another place Aphrahat explains Jesus’s silence by the fact that Jesus died when he administered his body and blood at the institution of the Eucharist, and it was not possible that one already numbered among the dead could speak to his accusers (Demonstration 12.6 [Parisot, Aphraatis, 1:517]). Thanks to Carl Griffin for this observation. Joseph Son of Jacob i.117 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 527). Joseph Son of Jacob i.77–84, 157–182 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 525, 528–529). Joseph Son of Jacob is not following Syriac History of Joseph in these expansions. I discuss this scene in more detail in chapter 4 below. Note the contrast between the ‘hate’ (焏‫ )ܣܢ‬of the brothers, and the ‘envy’ (犯‫ )ܣܩ‬of the Jews. Joseph Son of Jacob never uses the verb 爟‫‘( ܚܣ‬envy’), unlike Balai and Narsai.

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and the reference in Genesis 41:54 to Egypt having ‘bread’ (焏‫ )ܠܚܡ‬when the famine struck. The main difference between the two is the verb used in connection with the bread. In Aphrahat, Joseph and Jesus both ‘provide’ (爿‫ܢ‬犯‫ )ܦ‬with bread, whereas in Joseph Son of Jacob they ‘purchase’ (爯‫ )ܙܒ‬with bread.88 5 The Jews at the Second Coming Not only Aphrahat and Joseph Son of Jacob, but also two dependent non-Syriac sources see the attitude of the brothers before the self-revealed Joseph as a prefiguration of the Jews before the returning Messiah.89 Joseph Son of Jacob emphasizes the fact that both bow down and worship, while Aphrahat here points to the great shame and fear that both feel. It seems to me that there are sufficient points of contact between the two comparison series to indicate a commonly recognized pool of typological connections, if not direct dependence.90 Joseph Son of Jacob seems to be generally more concerned to emphasize the supersession of the Christian people, and treats the Jews more harshly and vindictively than Aphrahat (a theme I return to below). Other dissimilarities may simply result from how the two authors conceive specific scenes in the narrative, such as the episode with Potiphar’s wife and the persecution of Joseph by his brothers. In broader terms, the transformation of Aphrahat’s list under the hands of Joseph Son of Jacob once again indicates the malleability of the tradition in the hands of later authors. It is difficult to say whether the fecundity of the classical period of Syriac literature is dependent on the fact that authors were inspired and liberated by traditional genres and modes of expression, or on the need to buttress and transmit traditional and orthodox interpretations.91

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Narsai uses the same verb as Aphrahat when Pharaoh describes Joseph providing for the famine, a verb not found here in the Peshitta (Narsai, On Joseph 594, 598). Ps Ephrem, Armenian Commentary on Genesis (Text 33) and Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph (Text 29). There are also strong echoes of Aphrahat’s series in the Armenian commentary attributed to Ephrem (Matthews, Armenian Commentary, 143–144). On the connections between the Armenian commentary and the Syriac homiletic tradition, see Heal and Manis, ‘New Sources’. The generation of comparison series between Joseph and Jesus transcended linguistic boundaries and is found in the Greek Sermon on Joseph the Most Virtuous (Text 28) and the Armenian Commentary on Genesis (Text 32). Both works are attributed to Ephrem in their respective textual traditions. The comparisons in these texts are incorporated into ‘Table 1: Syriac Comparisons of Joseph and Jesus’ in Heal, ‘Joseph as a Type of Christ’, 38–45.

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Before considering the place of Christological typology in the other three Syriac sources I want first to revisit Joseph Son of Jacob’s unequivocal rejection of homilies that are not thoroughly Christian in character. ‘Every homily’, the author of Joseph Son of Jacob protests, ‘in which Christ the King is not mentioned, is rejected as foul and is not received by the listeners’.92 For the author of Joseph Son of Jacob, establishing Christological typology becomes a measure not only of good interpretation but of good writing. This statement may have broader implications for the dynamics of the Syriac Joseph tradition. Given the clear dependency of Joseph Son of Jacob upon the Syriac History of Joseph, it would perhaps be interesting to consider this statement as at least a direct rejection of that work, if not that sort of work. Thus, the statement may suggest the author’s uneasiness with not only the traditional themes and motifs he inherited, but also the non-Christocentric approach shown by his predecessors in the dramatic interpretation of scripture. The author of Joseph Son of Jacob seems to reject any methodological approach to the Old Testament that does not clearly draw out the Christological aspects of the text. Furthermore, it seems that for Joseph Son of Jacob, part of being sufficiently Christian in one’s reading of scripture also includes the imperative to be sufficiently anti-Jewish. Joseph Son of Jacob’s anti-Jewish tone represents a hardening of the position taken by either Aphrahat or Ephrem, a view that is buttressed in particular by the repeated use of the term ‘crucifiers’ (焏‫̈ܒ‬熏‫ )ܨܠ‬to refer to the Jews in general.93 Thus Joseph Son of Jacob seems to belong to the same school as other anonymous, acerbic Ephrem imitators, whose works were preserved by the name of their mentor.94 Joseph Son of Jacob’s antipathy for the Jews is also demonstrated by the fact that the iteration of the Joseph-Christ typology is itself in part inspired by the reverie the author experienced at the thought of the Jews finally being humbled

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Joseph Son of Jacob ii.41–44 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.52, 63 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561, 562). I have not found this ̈ usage in Aphrahat or in genuine Ephrem, nor does Narsai appear to use 焏‫ܒ‬熏‫ ܨܠ‬as a generic term for the Jews. This is a refinement to Murray, Symbols, 41, who claims that Ephrem ̈ ̈ uses both 焏‫ܒ‬熏‫ ܨܠ‬and its synonym 焏‫ܦ‬熏‫ܙܩ‬. The latter is abundantly attested, e.g., Ephrem, Hymns on Faith 8.6; 17.8; 24.11; 39.1; 58.7; 87.10. ̈ References to 焏‫ܒ‬熏‫ ܨܠ‬in Ps Ephrem appear in Sermones iii, ii.445; iii.209; Nachträge v.257; and Sermones in Hebdomadam Sanctum v.1105; vi.721, 1105; vii.341. None of these memre is considered to be genuine. It is interesting that the term is only found in the memra genre. This line of thought is continued in Isaac of Antioch and Jacob of Serugh, as indicated in Murray, Symbols, 41. Interestingly, the term is also found three times in Balai (On Joseph i.849, 853 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 350]). See also Acts of Mar Mari the Apostle (Harrak) 33, where the synonym 焏‫ܦ‬熏‫ ܙܩ‬is used, following the Teaching of Addai.

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at the resurrection day. Just as Joseph’s brothers knelt down before him, with their faces on the ground in abject humility, so likewise, Joseph Son of Jacob imagines, will be the fate of ‘all the crucifiers on the day of resurrection’.95 They will want to do otherwise, but when the Son of God ‘appear[s] in his glory to judge the salvation of the dead … they will [nevertheless] fall down and worship [him]’.96 The author of Joseph Son of Jacob contends that it was the symbol of the Son that he saw in Joseph that compelled him to stop at this point in his narrative and dwell upon the similarities between the two stories. However, the fact that the first comparison between Joseph and Jesus emphasizes the envy of the crucifiers perhaps belies another not altogether benevolent motive.

Balai Balai considers the portrayal of Joseph as a type of Christ as entirely ancillary to his purposes in writing the life of Joseph.97 There is a sense that this aspect of Joseph must be mentioned, and thus there is an implicit awareness of the abundant typological links made by Aphrahat and Joseph Son of Jacob, but it would seem that Balai has a more humane agenda, one that begins with his first polemic against the envious.98 Pastoral rather than theological and exegetical concerns seem to be at the heart of this work. In fact, there may be a sense of frustration that the tradition has drifted in a different direction, and though Balai nods to tradition, it seems he wants to renew the balance and return the story of Joseph firmly back to a story of an exemplary man. Balai affirms that the Lord indeed depicted his types in Joseph,99 but makes more of the fact that Joseph is ‘worthy to be a type’ of Jesus.100 He is anxious to show why Joseph is worthy to typify the Lord, rather than to give examples of how his life does in fact do so. Thus he is less keen to expand on ways in which Joseph’s deeds depict the life of the Lord than he is to speak of the ‘won̈ drous deeds’ (‫ܗܝ‬熏‫ܚܢ‬犏‫ )ܢ‬of the beloved of God, and it is to this end that he repeatedly implores heavenly aid.101 Balai would rather teach his audience how God refines through trials those whom He loves than show how the trials of

95 96 97 98 99 100 101

Joseph Son of Jacob ii.51–52 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561). Joseph Son of Jacob ii.53–54 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561). Näf also notes Balai’s restraint in this respect (Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 52). Balai, On Joseph i.1–40 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 1–3). Balai, On Joseph i.77 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 4). Balai, On Joseph i.79 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 4). Balai, On Joseph i.65–66, 78 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 4).

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Joseph provide parallels to the trials of Jesus.102 Thus, it is the moral ‘beauty’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ܝ‬焏‫ )ܦ‬hidden in the story that interests Balai,103 rather than the hidden symbols of the Son that so animated the author of Joseph Son of Jacob. Three quatrains near the end of the first memra stand out against the prevailing sentiment in Balai’s On Joseph, and it is not impossible that these lines are inauthentic. Joseph is in the pit, and the brothers are looking down and are about to demand that he confess to the merchants that he is indeed a slave (cf. Gen. 37:26–28): Upon the cistern they mocked his dreams, just as their children (would mock) at the cross. ‘Where are your dreams now’, they called out to him, ‘For they have not risen up and saved you’. And the crucifiers called out to the Only Begotten, ‘Get down from the upright wood of the cross’. And their fathers were calling out, ‘Come, get up Joseph from the cistern’. The crucifiers were ashamed, because the Firstborn came down from the cross. Just as, in the desert, those insolent men were ashamed, because Joseph went up and was exalted.104 There are similarities between this scene and the earlier description of the brothers mocking Joseph in the cistern.105 The verb for being ashamed is the same, the idea of mocking is present, the question ‘where are your dreams’ is also present in both. Yet there are several elements that seem out of place, or inconsistent with Balai’s artistry. The first couplet draws from Luke 23:35, but the construction is odd and inelegant. Nowhere else in the Syriac Joseph texts do the brothers stand ‘on’ or ‘upon the cistern’ (焏‫ܒ‬熏‫ ܓ‬爏‫)ܥ‬.106 The verb 熏‫ܡܝܩ‬ ‘they mocked’ has biblical precedent, but it is not used in this scene earlier in Balai, nor indeed in any of the other Syriac Joseph texts. The typology is consistent with Aphrahat and Joseph Son of Jacob, both linking this moment in the pit with the Crucifixion. However, this is the only place where the epithet

102 103 104 105 106

Balai, On Joseph i.41–60 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 3–4). Balai, On Joseph i.61 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 4). Balai, On Joseph i.845–856 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 34–35). Balai, On Joseph i.721–726 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 29–30). Note how a few lines above the brothers are 焏‫ܒ‬熏‫ ܓ‬焯‫ ܓܢ‬爏‫‘ ܥ‬on the edge of the cistern’ (Balai, On Joseph i.839 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 34]).

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焏‫ܒ‬熏̈‫‘ ܨܠ‬crucifiers’ appears in Balai’s poem. As noted above, this epithet is used of the Jews in the proem to the second memra of Joseph Son of Jacob and is not uncommon in the works of Jacob of Serugh, and I am inclined to think that it belongs to a later phase of the Syriac literary tradition. Moreover, the lines interrupt the flow of the narrative. The Arabs have just arrived, and the brothers are about to sell Joseph. They rush to the pit to tell him to say that he is a slave, which they do immediately after these three quatrains. If these lines are removed, the flow of the narrative is restored. This is all to say that a cursory examination of these lines suggests that they seem to be out of place thematically, artistically, and rhetorically. Whether or not the lines are authentic, that inconsistency alone is interesting.

Narsai It would be reasonable to expect more restraint from Narsai in making typological connections. Instead, he affirms the boundless types and symbols to be found in the lives of the just. Provocatively, he asks his audience towards the end of the memra, ‘who will not yield to their symbols and types?’.107 In this question lies the key to Narsai’s engagement with Christological typology in the memra on Joseph. Narsai is not afraid to tackle the hard questions raised by the Old Testament narrative (see the next chapter), nor is he intimidated by established interpretations and existing procedural trajectories. He knows his own mind,108 and draws confidently from his triple heritage to engage with the theme of Christological typology in new and dynamic ways. Frishman has already noted Narsai’s willingness to point out Christological types in the Old Testament, though she clarifies this assertion by noting that he restricts his determination of types of Christ to those ‘few things or events so strikingly unusual that they cannot be construed as anything other than purposeful foreshadowing of Christ’.109 Thus Frishman sees Narsai following firmly in the footsteps of Theodore, who saw Christ only in those Old Testament passages whose ‘phraseology goes beyond what the immediate reference would

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Narsai, On Joseph 793. Frishman adverts to the difficulty in trying to make Narsai a strict disciple of any one school of thought (Ways and Means, iii, 180–181), though she does see more of Theodore’s influence than anything else (see below). Frishman, Ways and Means, iii, 31. See also Van Rompay, ‘Christian Syriac Tradition’, 635, 638.

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seem to require’.110 However, in the case of the memra on Joseph, Narsai seems to engage with the tradition, rather than strictly following either Ephrem or Theodore; and in engaging with the tradition, he seems to be determined to show that though the story and figure of Joseph had already proven to be a deep well of Christological types, the well is far from dry. Narsai diverges furthest from his predecessors in noting that it was not only Joseph but Jacob who was a type and symbol of Jesus;111 and not insignificantly, it is this Jacob-Jesus typology that is brought out by Narsai before he notes the ways in which Joseph was a type of Christ.112 Narsai draws the comparison between Jacob and Jesus while defending Jacob’s actions in favouring Joseph. Narsai considers the scene evoked in the opening of Genesis 37 from Jacob’s vantage. Narsai protests that Jacob was actually entirely equitable and rational in how he apportioned his love to his children, since he did so according to the evidence of zeal for God that he saw in his children—it just so happened that Joseph alone demonstrated this zeal, and thus received his love.113 This argument is nicely buttressed by what Narsai presents as the analogous case of Jesus and John the Beloved: ‘The love (shown) towards Joseph by his parent is like that [love] which Christ (showed) towards John, the lover of his Lord’.114 What links the two episodes is the action of showing favour to just one of a group of twelve—Narsai is here drawing upon one side of a double analogy from the number of Jacob’s sons, whom he sees as not only symbolizing the number of the months, a point he picks up later, but also the number of the disciples of Jesus.115 ‘Spiritually speaking,’ Narsai continues, ‘Our Lord begat twelve (sons), and one of them he honoured with his love more than his companions’.116 Jacob’s love for Joseph was a ‘symbol of John’ the beloved.117 For, just as Joseph was loved most by his father for loving the Father most, so also John merited the love of Jesus by his devotion and was ‘exalted above his fellow [apostles]’.118

110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118

Wiles, ‘Theodore of Mopsuestia’, 508; see also Theodore’s Commentary on Zechariah 9:9– 10, quoted by Hidal, ‘Exegesis in the Antiochene School’, 554, with discussion following. Narsai, On Joseph 97–112. Narsai, On Joseph 287–290, 495–502, 776–790. Narsai, On Joseph 71–84. I treat this episode in more detail in the following chapter. Narsai, On Joseph 97–98. Narsai, On Joseph 102–103. Narsai, On Joseph 100–101. Narsai, On Joseph 110. Narsai, On Joseph 112–113.

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Though Joseph is first construed as a symbol of John by Narsai, it is as a symbol of Jesus that he is most frequently identified in the memra.119 However, there appears to be good reason to be suspicious about at least the first of these passages. This first passage appears at the very moment that Joseph’s brothers are offering to sell him to the merchants. Before the merchants see Joseph in the cistern, the brothers rush over and pull him up and hide him.120 They then offer to sell Joseph as a slave,121 and go off to fetch him from whence he was secured in order to show him to the merchants.122 However, this last action is interrupted with a typological interjection: The insolent men attacked the humble man to sell him just as the Jews attacked our Saviour. The story of Joseph is very similar to that of our Saviour who, without having done any crime, the evil men hung up on high from a piece of wood. Harshly those insolent men dealt with the Innocent One, And without any pity they hunted him down and brought him to the merchants.123 These lines (287–292) have several interesting features. The first is the repetition of the term ‘insolent men’ (焏‫ )ܡܪܚ‬in lines 287, 291, and later in 295, which may seem awkward. However, the earlier repetition of the term ‘criminals’ to identify the brothers used in close proximity in lines 278 and 281, suggests that such repetition is being deliberately used to strongly characterize the brothers in this scene. The comparison in the first couplet seems a little clumsy. It lacks the specificity that characterizes many of the comparisons of Aphrahat and the author of Joseph Son of Jacob, both of whom link this scene with the events of the Passion. One is hard pressed to find an actual instance of the Jews attacking Jesus that would satisfactorily parallel this experience of Joseph’s.124 Perhaps this couplet as an example of Narsai coining an original collocation that none of his predecessors had explicitly made, but there may be reason to consider this as an interpolation.

119 120 121 122 123 124

Narsai, On Joseph 287–290, 495–502, 776–790. Narsai, On Joseph 278–279. Narsai, On Joseph 282–286. Narsai, On Joseph 291–292. Narsai, On Joseph 287–292. The use of the verb ‫ ܪܗܛ‬in line 287 may intend to invoke Matt. 27:48, Mark 15:36. I’m grateful to Joseph Witztum for this observation.

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The second couplet is also not without problems. The construction in the first line seems out of place in Narsai, who tends to prefer to identify an event or person as being ‘a symbol of our Saviour’ (爯‫ܘܩ‬犯‫ )ܐܪܙ ܦ‬rather than being ‘like’ (焏‫ )ܕܡ‬the Saviour.125 The first line of this second couplet is furthermore sufficiently reminiscent of Joseph Son of Jacob for the latter to be its inspiration.126 Suspicions are further roused by the next line in this couplet (290), which uses a distinctive turn of phrase to describe the crucifixion. The cross is regularly referred to as the ‘wood’ (焏‫ )ܩܝܣ‬in the early Syriac tradition.127 However, when Narsai refers to Jesus’ Crucifixion, he uses the construction ‘on top of the wood’ (焏‫ܫ ܩܝܣ‬犯‫ ܒ‬or 焏‫ ܪܫ ܩܝܣ‬爏‫ )ܥ‬to refer to being upon the cross, rather than the expression, ‘upon the wood’ (焏‫ ܩܝܣ‬爯‫ ܡ‬爏‫)ܠܥ‬, which is found here. It seems inadvisable, therefore, to admit these two couplets as evidence of Narsai’s Joseph-Jesus typology, at least not without reservations. In other places, however, Narsai is innovative in his typological connections. It is somewhat surprising that Narsai is the first in the Syriac tradition to connect the thieves on the right and the left of Jesus with Pharaoh’s baker and butler who were confined with Joseph in Prison.128 In each of the first three couplets of this brief comparison series Narsai pairs these respective criminals to create a point of conjunction between Joseph and Jesus. In the final couplet the innocence of Joseph and Jesus are compared: The chaste one was confined and dwelt with the shameless, just as our fair and pure Saviour was among robbers. Two noxious servants of the king were with the righteous one, like the robber who was on the right and on the left hand. The servants were cast in prison because they went astray, just like the robbers whose actions crucified them.

125

126 127

128

As in Narsai memra 1 On Revelations to Patriarchs and Prophets (I) 689 (Mingana, Narsai, i.22) with respect to Abraham, Narsai memra 14 On Jonah 242, 284 (Mingana, Narsai, i.141, 142) with respect to Jonah, and, significantly, Narsai, On Joseph 105 (Mingana, Narsai, ii.268) with respect to Jacob. Narsai, On Joseph 97–98 is an exception that weakens the case somewhat. I am grateful to Joseph Witztum for this observation. Joseph Son of Jacob ii.60 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 561). Thus, linked typologically with the wood upon which Isaac was placed. This connection is seen clearly in Jacob of Serugh’s On Abraham and His Types (Bedjan, Homiliae selectae, iv.61–103). This connection is also made in Jacob, On Joseph vi.12, and by the author of the Armenian commentary on Genesis attributed to Ephrem (Matthews, Armenian Commentary, ii.143– 144).

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Only Joseph was confined there without blame, as a symbol of the Giver of All Life whom envy crucified, though (he committed) no offence.129 The main development that is made across the series is in the shift in emphasizing the guilt of the Egyptians/robbers and the innocence of Joseph/Jesus. It is this theme that seems, in part at least, to have prompted the series, since it is emphasized in the couplet immediately preceding it, forming a kind of enclosure around the comparisons. The final passage that deserves attention forms part of Narsai’s exordium, and in it he returns to his usual allusive ways.130 No clear comparison series constrains the flow of the summation, rather Narsai aims to explore the implications of Joseph’s dreams being fulfilled by the worship of his whole family: ‘In the worship of Joseph the creator yoked the articulate and the dumb ones, as a symbol of our Saviour who will receive from all the worship of love’.131 Once introduced, Narsai does not dwell upon the theme, but rather he uses it as a point of departure for a discussion of the proper object of Christian worship.

Jacob of Serugh Jesus constantly breaks into Jacob’s homilies on Joseph, disrupting the narrative and reminding the reader of the figure who fulfilled the promises enacted in Joseph’s life and actions.132 The same thing happened to Aphrahat, but there the typological connections were laid out schematically. Aphrahat influences Joseph Son of Jacob, which reproduces its own comparison series and shaped the story of Joseph to better imitate aspects of the life of Jesus. For Jacob, however, it is not enough to remint the story of Joseph with the image of Jesus. Instead, Jacob insists on pausing to preach at every moment so that the life of Jesus can be seen impressed into the story of Joseph. As Heinrich Näf observed, for Jacob ‘the story of Joseph is full of mysterious allusions and foreshadowings, above all to the Passion’.133

129 130 131 132 133

Narsai, On Joseph 495–502. Narsai, On Joseph 776–790. Narsai, On Joseph 776–777. As observed first in Näf’s summary and discussion of Jacob’s memre on Joseph (Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 43–52). Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 52: ‘für ihn ist die Josefsgeschichte voll von geheimen Anspielungen und Vorbedeutungen vor allem auf die Passion’.

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Jacob begins his cycle of homilies with the fact that Joseph is a type of Christ, but he does not end there. A type is an impression, a promise, a gesture, and therefore different from what is typified. Jacob disrupts the simple juxtaposition of the lives of Joseph and Jesus that is found in Aphrahat and Joseph Son of Jacob, reminding the reader that just as Joseph’s beauty is really the beauty of Jesus, so also, the works and experiences of Joseph are mere shadows compared to what was fulfilled in Christ. Joseph was saved, Jesus was not. For Jacob, therefore, and unlike Balai, Joseph does not possess any independent merit, or even attractiveness—there is only Christ shining through him, as he shone beneath the veil of Moses. Jesus is therefore the true subject of Jacob’s cycle of memre on Joseph. To borrow language from Frances Young, it seems that for Jacob, ‘It is not the historical event as such which makes typology what it is; more often it is the discernment of recapitulation, the “impressing” of one narrative or symbol on another, the one “fulfilling” another and so giving it meaning through what we might call “interillumination”’.134 Jacob understands this quite literally, since it is Christ who illuminates the stories and figures of the Old Testament. According to Näf, Jacob actively sought ‘to find or rather to construct’ connections between the life of Joseph and the life of Jesus.135 Konat captures some of the bemusement that seems just beneath the surface of Näf’s observation when he notes that ‘in his tireless search for types in the events and persons of the Old Testament, we may feel that at times there is no logic at all. As soon as something shows a resemblance to something else—especially to Christ— Jacob will call it a type’.136 However, such statements need to be qualified. Jacob certainly drew upon connections that he found in the tradition. And his homilies present new connection that are evidently the result of his own reading. However, I am inclined to agree with Ephrem Lash that it would be wrong to assume that authors such as Jacob ‘sat down consciously to “find” types’. Rather, I think that Jacob was the kind of author who ‘as day by day they contemplated God’s word, heard it proclaimed, sang it in psalms and canticles, these types and images would have sprung spontaneously to their minds. Their theology emerges from prayer and contemplation, from lectio divina in its old sense; it is not the product of what the Fathers, particularly St Ephrem, call “prying” or “inquisitive investigation”’.137 Jacob’s typology is not an artificial construction, but the result of a thoroughgoing sacramental view of scripture in which, ‘there is not even one line in the Old Testament that does not proclaim the way of 134 135 136 137

Young, ‘Typology’, 45. Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 52: ‘zu finden oder vielmehr zu konstruieren’. Konat, ‘Typological Exegesis’, 111. Lash, ‘Mary in Eastern Church Literature’, 60.

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the Son’.138 Thus it would be fair to say that for Jacob, ‘Christ becomes the hermeneutical key and the generator of characteristically Christian interpretative typologies’.139 Drawing upon 2Corinthians 3:15–18, Jacob considered the Old Testament to be like the veiled Moses (Ex. 34:33). Shining beneath the veil are the prophecies of Christ, and when the veil is lifted, the beauty of Christ is revealed, or ‘the exalted beauties of prophecy’.140 It is no coincidence, therefore, that Jacob opens his first homily On Joseph by calling upon this ‘Beautiful Christ with whom all the just ones adorn themselves’, and imploring him to ‘Grant me to see, while I marvel, how beautiful you are’.141 It is not simply that Jacob is diverting attention away from Joseph’s good looks to the more substantial ‘beauty’ (‫ܐ‬犯‫ܦ‬熏‫)ܫ‬ of Christ. Jacob is happy to talk about ‘the beauty of Joseph’.142 But he is convinced that his ability to truly apprehend Joseph’s beauty, and indeed to write a beautiful homily,143 is contingent upon him first seeing that beauty in ‘the complete beauty’ (焏‫ܐ ܡܠܝ‬犯‫ܦ‬熏‫ )ܫ‬of Christ.144 Christ must shine brighter than Joseph. ‘Your beauty’, Jacob says to Christ, ‘will shine forth upon the audience and will amaze them, and will snatch them away from glorifying his (Joseph’s) loveliness’.145 Christ is ‘the Great Image’ (焏‫ ܪܒ‬焏‫ )ܨܠܡ‬that provides the ‘gor̈ geous colours’ (焏‫ܢ‬熏‫ܦܪܐ ܓ‬熏‫)ܫ‬,146 and it is with those colours that Joseph is depicted.147 It is for that reason that ‘the image of his (Joseph’s) beauty shines brightly in the whole world’.148 138

139 140

141

142 143 144 145 146 147 148

Elkhoury, ‘Jesus Christ, the Eye of Prophecy’, 67, citing Bedjan, Homiliae selectae, iii.208.10–11. Sidney Griffith notes that, ‘In his more far-ranging discovery of typologies, however, Jacob goes significantly beyond both Ephraem’s and his own contemporary Narsai’s deployment of typological constructions put upon sundry details in Old Testament narratives’ (Griffith, ‘Disclosing the Mystery’, 56). Young, ‘Typology’, 41. Jacob, On the Veil on Moses’s Face, 452–454 (Brock, Jacob of Serugh’s Homily on the Veil on Moses’s Face, 58); and Ephrem, Hymns on Faith, 8.6. These two references are gathered in Brock, Jacob of Serugh’s Homily on the Veil on Moses’s Face, 6. Jacob, On Joseph i.1–2 (Akhrass and Syryany, 160 Unpublished Homilies, i.493). See also the opening of Jacob’s The Lord will Raise Prophet, translated and discussed in Forness, Preaching Christology, 191–193. Jacob, On Joseph i.9a. Jacob, On Joseph i.12b: ‘In you (Christ), the beauty of the mimro about that fair one will abound’. Jacob, On Joseph i.10: ‘Unless I see the complete beauty in you Jesus, I will also not come near to seeing the beauty of Joseph’. Jacob, On Joseph i.13. Jacob, On Joseph i.2a. Jacob, On Joseph i.16a. Jacob, On Joseph i.16b.

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How does Jacob justify these claims? Jacob shows that he belongs to the same literary world as the author of Joseph Son of Jacob by also adopting Psalms 81:5 as part of his scriptural foundation for seeing Jesus in the story of Joseph.149 Jacob makes the connection clear in the proem to the first homily, indicating that he is citing this scripture: ‘You placed your testimony in him, Lord, as it is written’.150 Jacob understands the first line of this verse to mean ‘He set a testimony in Joseph’ (煿̇‫ ܣܡ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ܕܘܬܐ ܒܝ‬煿‫)ܣ‬.151 That ‘testimony’ was to be understood as indicating that Joseph was a type of, or bore the testimony of Christ. This is how this line is construed throughout Jacob’s homilies On Joseph.152 Usefully, this is also how the line is understood by Jacob’s younger contemporary Daniel of Ṣalaḥ (fl. mid-6th C) as can been seen in his Great Psalm Commentary.153 There Daniel asks, ‘Why did the psalmist say, “God set a testimony in Joseph”? And, furthermore, what is that testimony?’154 Daniel answers, ‘A testimony was imprinted in him by Christ’.155 Daniel then proceeds to give an extended series of comparison between Joseph and Jesus to demonstrate how the testimony of Christ was imprinted in the life of Joseph:156 He was sold because of envy by his brothers, just as Emmanuel was also (sold) by his disciple. Again, they threw him in a cistern empty of water, just as Christ was also put into a tomb that had no life in it. He had become a slave in Egypt even though he was a freeborn son;157 God the Word was also called a slave even though he was free. Joseph was tried in the waters of strife158 when the detestable desire of his mistress was fighting against

149

150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158

As discussed above. Neither Balai nor Narsai allude to this verse. Moreover, both Jacob and Joseph Son of Jacob frequently use the construction ‫ܕܘܬܗ‬煿‫‘ ܣ‬his testimony’, which may help explain the reading in 6tI* and later witnesses, rather than the reading ‫ܕܘܬܐ‬煿‫ܣ‬ ‘testimony’, which is found in 7a1. On Joseph i.17a. I am inclined to disagree with Richard Taylor’s translation of the first line of Ps. 81:5 as found in Taylor et al., Psalms, 335: ‘He set it as a testimony in Joseph’. On Joseph iii.98a; vi.9a; vii.8a; x.197a. Taylor, ‘Daniel of Ṣalaḥ’. Çiçek, Pušāq mazmurē, 306. Çiçek, Pušāq mazmurē, 306. My translation of the following passage benefitted greatly from numerous helpful corrections and suggestions generously offered by David Taylor. I discuss this expression in chapter 2, Text 8 above. This may suggest a link between Jacob and Daniel. The phrase is taken from Ps. 81:7. Daniel seems to be drawing from Aphrahat (Demonstration 1.14 [Parisot, Aphraatis, i.33:15–18]): ‘And Joseph, because of his faith, was tried in the

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him—but he did not obey the call of sin;159 scripture testifies concerning Emmanuel that he did not commit sin.160 (Joseph) was insulted by that harlot and temple of sin; just as the Word of the Father was dishonoured by the Synagogue. He was thrown in the prison because of the deceitful accusation of the Egyptian woman; so too that Synagogue which was born in Egypt was crying out to Pilate, ‘Crucify him, crucify him’. Now when Joseph was thrown in prison, of the two servants of the king, he killed one and saved the other; just as Emmanuel also, when he hung upon the cross, fastened with nails, he killed one robber because he did not believe, but to that one who confessed him he opened the gate of the Garden of Eden. (And so Adam will enter in and [again] stand in [his] office in the spiritual kingdom, so that [as] through that first ordinance [given] to him he will be seen to be among the ministers of the kings).161 (Joseph) spoke up and became a king for that (same) Egypt in which he was a slave. And he was depicting an image of that one who after he had tasted death, and had arisen from the tomb, and his reign over all was proclaimed. Joseph was providing Egypt with food; so also, Emmanuel nourishes with the bread of life all those who believe.162 Thus, it seems likely that in Jacob’s day Psalms 81:5 was freighted with the kind of deep typological associations that appear in the comparison series found in Aphrahat’s Demonstrations and Joseph Son of Jacob. In repeatedly referring to this verse, Jacob is citing the scripture that not only explains why, but also promises that there will be a depth and abundance of Christological types in the story of Joseph.163

159

160 161

162 163

waters of strife and was delivered from his trial. And his Lord place a testimony in him, as David said “He set a testimony in Joseph”’. However, the locus of the trial is not specified. Ephrem connects the ‘waters of strife’ with the cistern in Hymns on Epiphany, 8.13: ‘Not the waters of strife into which they threwܶ Joseph in the cistern’. ܳ Reading ‘but he did not obey’ (牟‫ )ܐܴܠ ܠ ܫܰܡ‬with London, British ܶ Library Additional 14,679 (1102) rather than the problematic ‘but he obeyed’ (牟‫ )ܐܴܠ ܫܰܡ‬of the edition. I am grateful to David Taylor for checking this manuscript and providing me with this reading. 1 Peter 2:22. ܳ ܳ ܳ ܶ Reading 狏‫ܐ ܰܒܝܳܢ‬熟‫ܚ‬狏‫ ܶܢ‬焏‫ܳܡܳܝ‬煟‫ ܰܩ‬煿‫ܶܣ‬熏‫ܘ ܳܢܽܡ‬煿ܰ‫ ܰܕܒ‬.‫ܐ‬狏‫ܳܥܺܢܝ‬煟‫ܰܝ‬狏‫ܬܐ ܶܡ‬熏‫ܬܐ ܕܰܡܠܽܟ‬煟‫ ܶܫ‬爏‫ܡ ܰܥ‬焏ܷ‫ܠ ܴܐܳܕܡ ܘܳܩ‬焏ܷ‫ܘܳܥ‬ ܶ̈ ܰ ̈ ܳ ܰ 焏‫ ܕܡܠܟ‬焏‫ ܡܫܡܫܢ‬with London, British Library Additional 14,679 (1102) rather than the edition. Daniel is echoing Gen. 40:13. I am grateful to David Taylor for checking the British Library manuscript and providing me with this reading, and for helping produce a coherent translation of this passage. Çiçek, Pušāq mazmurē, 306–307. It may also be the case that such an interpretation of Ps 81:5 stands behind Narsai’s willingness to draw new typological parallels between Joseph and Jesus.

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The first appearance of Jacob’s reference to Psalms 81:5 is found in the section of the proem to the first homily in which Jacob is addressing the Lord.164 The section is intended to turn the audience towards Christ rather than Joseph. The lectionary reading would have filled their minds with Joseph’s splendour, so Jacob begins his homily by noting that actually, ‘all of the fair ones adorn themselves with you’.165 And then, almost as a kind of anaphora, he reinforces this point couplet after couplet: ‘Your beauty will shine forth upon the audience’;166 ‘Both speakers and hearers will see you my Lord’;167 ‘Joseph has been depicted with your colours’;168 ‘The likeness of your image sent its beauty upon his childhood’.169 Jacob is there to preach Jesus and not Joseph. Moreover, Jacob is eager for the audience to understand that Joseph had no power of his own. It was because the Lord set his testimony in Joseph that ̈ Joseph could ‘subdue kings in their countries’ (‫ܬܪܘܬܐ‬焏‫ ܒ‬煟‫ ܫܥܒ‬焏‫)ܠܡܠܟ‬.170 Not only are Joseph’s great achievements due to the power of Christ within him, but also Joseph only experienced a shadow of the things that Jesus experienced. Because Joseph had received the ‘image of the Son’171 and testimony of Christ, not only did ‘the ends of the earth marvel at how handsome he was’,172 but he was empowered to do things that would testify of the life and mission of Jesus. He ‘gave nourishment to those in need’,173 feeding ‘those who were in famine’.174 However, there were things that Joseph could not do.175 Jacob treats this theme directly in his second homily On Joseph.176 As soon as Jacob begins to treat Joseph’s visit to the brothers (Gen. 37:12–14) he draws a comparison with Jesus coming to his people.177 The similarities pile up as Jacob weaves comparis-

164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175

176 177

Jacob, On Joseph i.12–20. Jacob, On Joseph i.12a. Jacob, On Joseph i.13a (emphasis added). Jacob, On Joseph i.14a (emphasis added). Jacob, On Joseph i.16a (emphasis added). Jacob, On Joseph i.18a (emphasis added). Jacob, On Joseph i.17b. Jacob, On Joseph i.22b. Jacob, On Joseph i.18b. Jacob, On Joseph i.19b. Jacob, On Joseph i.20b. Konat, ‘Typological Exegesis’, 120: ‘This is the nature of types. They acquire great strength, beauty and importance, because, and mostly because, they are types; but at the same time, they can never become as effective or perfect as the reality which they picture. Types can represent only parts of the reality. They are always inferior and imperfect when compared with the anti-type’. The theme is taken up again at length in Jacob, On Joseph ix.373–454. Jacob, On Joseph ii.32.

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ons into the narrative.178 When Joseph reaches the brothers and their anger and envy begins to be directed against him, Jesus once again breaks into the narrative. In the first of several restatements of Matthew 21:38, Jacob notes how ‘the angry men saw the heir of the father who had been sent, and they planned to kill him so that he would not inherit’.179 This observation transitions immediately into an extended series of comparisons between Joseph and Jesus, part of the purpose of which is to show how ‘the heads of the tribes laid up a treasury of mockery for their children, and that mockery was passed down among their posterity’.180 After revelling in Joseph as a type of Christ and the mutual vilification between Joseph’s brothers and the Jews who persecuted Jesus, Jacob changes course slightly and delivers fifteen couplets on the theme of Joseph not being able to bear the ‘sufferings and blood laid in store for the Son of God’.181 This passage resumes the theme began in the proem of the first homily. Joseph could not have risen from the dead,182 he could not have escaped the walls of Sheol,183 or bound death in his own domain.184 Warming to his theme, Jacob turns to the subjunctive, and to the rhetorical use of anaphora for three couplets: If he had entered the realm of the dead like our Saviour, it would have closed the doors of the stronghold before his escape. If he had undertaken his journey to the grave like the Son of the Living One, he would have sunk in the gulf that is full of the dead. If he had entered perdition to see its realm, he would have been destroyed by the ranks of worms that assemble there.185 Certainly Joseph could have died, but ‘it was not his to walk upon the path of slaughter’.186 Joseph’s role was to gesture towards Jesus, to trace the path, but

178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186

E.g. Jacob, On Joseph ii.40: ‘He brought the peace of the father to the brothers and visited them, but he stirred them up to anger against him, just like the crucifiers’. Jacob, On Joseph ii.63. Jacob, On Joseph ii.63–82, citing 75. Jacob, On Joseph ii.83–97, citing 83b. Jacob, On Joseph ii.84. Jacob, On Joseph ii.85. Jacob, On Joseph ii.86. Jacob, On Joseph ii.87–89. Jacob, On Joseph ii.93b.

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not to walk it.187 Instead, the ‘mystery’ (‫ )ܪܐܙܐ‬saved him by urging Reuben to propose a different plan.188 This is one of those places, as Sidney Griffith notes, that the ‘mystery’ (‫ )ܪܐܙܐ‬is ‘virtually personified’ in Jacob’s homilies. ‘As the avatar of Christ it seems to indicate Christ himself directing the course of events, even the dialogue and the movements of the dramatis personae in the panorama opened up by the biblical narrative’.189 Thus, in a marvellous display of Jacob’s symbolic theology, ‘the protecting shadow of the crucifixion fell upon the envied one’, and Joseph is saved by Jesus.190 Finally, Jacob notices the mimetic details of the story of Joseph and sees in them the life of Christ. For Jacob, Old Testament figures and stories represent the life of Christ. Thus, it is this mimetic element that Jacob is most interested in exposing. For Jacob it seems that ‘somehow an “impression” of the future is etched into the scriptural texts, so that the oracles are not just verbal riddles but “representations” of what is to come. The element of mimesis is what makes it a “type”’.191 Notice, for example, how Jacob imagines Joseph being robed in his new coat. As a sign of his father’s love, Joseph’s new coat is made with long sleeves.192 Jacob imagines the scene in which Joseph is presented with the enigmatic ‘long-sleeved coat’ (‫ܐ‬狏‫̈ܝ‬煟‫ ܕܦ‬焏‫ܬܝܢ‬熏‫ )ܟ‬of Genesis 37:3. ‘He stretched out the sleeves upon him, upon the boy as a great mystery, as though on the cross he stretch him out in the garment when he clothed him’.193 In imagining the patriarch Jacob holding up his sons arms in his new coat, doubtless Jacob of Serugh remembered Ephrem’s image of a fully grown bird ‘opening its wings in the symbol of the Cross’.194 Frances Young’s observation on this line applies equally to the passage from Jacob: ‘The typos is more to do with the mimetic “impress” than to do with recapitulating a past event of history’.195

187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195

Jacob, On Joseph ii.94: ‘truly he traced [the path]’. Jacob, On Joseph ii.97–99. Griffith, ‘Disclosing the Mystery’, 61. Jacob, On Joseph ii.95. Young, ‘Typology’, 38. Jacob, On Joseph i.39a. Jacob, On Joseph i.40. Ephrem, Hymns on Faith, 18.2, as translated in Brock, Luminous Eye, 79. Young, Biblical Exegesis, 148. In other instances, the type is found in the story rather than a mimetic gesture. For example, Reuben’s attempt to save Joseph is a type of Pilate trying to save Jesus (Jacob, On Joseph ii.98–135). Judah selling Joseph is a type of Judas betraying Jesus for money (Jacob, On Joseph iii.62).

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Conclusions The Christianization of the Joseph narrative in the Syriac tradition is enacted principally through an elaborate web of typological connections, which not only bind Joseph to Jesus but also bind texts together.196 Thus, ‘typology belongs to the literary phenomenon of intertextuality, to the genre of liturgy and sacred story’.197 By tracing the adoption of traditional modes of expressing this typology, a case has been built for the influence of Aphrahat in Joseph Son of Jacob, and indirectly on the whole tradition. I have also shown that Narsai does not share the concerns of Joseph Son of Jacob. Narsai is not obdurately trying to wring out every possible connection between the life of Joseph and that of Jesus; nor is he reticent, though, to add to this illustrious list of equivalents, or to give a new emphasis to an existing connection. What seems to be more central to Narsai is his belief in the inexhaustibility of scripture, and the need for the congregation to yield to ‘symbols and types’ to be found in the lives it tells.198 What Narsai shows in his homily on Joseph is the fruitfulness of viewing the figures and cruxes of scripture from a different angle. Taking this approach to the life of Joseph enabled him to raise the typological profile of the patriarch Jacob, and to see Joseph foreshadowing not only Jesus but also John. For Jacob of Serugh, all truth is from the Son. Christ is found on every page and is ‘the center of every prophecy’. Indeed, ‘all prophecies point to him and he gives them their meaning’.199 The distinctive approaches of Narsai and Jacob are useful data points for differentiating the homiletic genre from narrative poetry. The preacher can roam further from the main narrative thread than the narrative poet, for whom narrative continuity is paramount. 196

197 198 199

This is, of course, only one of the ways in which the Joseph narrative is ‘Christianized’ by the sources. An instructive study of Christianization as the process by which an Old Testament text is made to reflect the exegete’s ‘understanding of the nature of Christian faith, Christian ministry and Christian moral behavior’ is found in O’Keefe, ‘Christianizing Malachi’ (I quote from p. 137 of this study). Young, ‘Typology’, 48. Narsai, On Joseph 793. Elkhoury, ‘Jesus Christ, the Eye of Prophecy’, 83.

chapter 3

Exemplarity and the Problem of Favouritism (Gen. 37:3–4) In this chapter, I examine the theme of exemplarity and the problem of favouritism in the retelling of Genesis 37:3–4. These verses intersect with an evolving response in the Syriac tradition to the question of patriarchal righteousness, as well as the broader issue of the function of Old Testament figures in the spiritual world view of early Syriac Christians.

The Problem of Favouritism (Gen. 37:3–4) Genesis 37 begins with three brief scenes that focus upon Jacob’s younger son Joseph and which set the stage for the events in the remainder of the chapter (Gen. 37:1–11).1 In the first scene, the text says ‘Joseph brought [the brothers’] evil report to his father’ (Gen. 37:2); in the second, that ‘Israel loved Joseph more than all of his brothers because he was the son of his old age and he made a long-sleeved coat for him’ (Gen. 37:3). In the third scene, two dreams are related in which first the brothers and then the brothers with Jacob and Rachel are depicted as bowing down to worship Joseph (Gen. 37:5–11). There is no mention of any reaction on the part of the brothers to Joseph’s reporting on them. However, when they see that Jacob loves Joseph more than all of them, made public in the giving of the coat, they start to hate him—hearing the dreams simply results in the contempt increasing.2 The issue at stake here is nicely captured by Abba Agathon: ‘If God is the God of the righteous, who shall condemn Jacob?’3 The early Christian construal of these opening scenes is wrestling not simply with recognizing the process 1 In London, British Library Additional 14,425, these verses are divided into two pericopes (1– 8, 9–11), which serves to differentiate the reaction of the brothers to Joseph and the reaction of his father. 2 As Levenson puts it in his highly perceptive and nuanced reading of this text, ‘It is the belovedness of Joseph to his father that calls forth his brothers’ jealousy and, ultimately, their attempt to do away with him’ (Levenson, Death and Resurrection, 143). 3 Ward, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, 23. The saying relates specifically to Jacob’s complaint in Gen. 42:36, 38. The setting for the saying is a monastic cell wherein two unwell brothers lie, enjoying the therapeutic benefits of reading the book of Genesis.

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of causality leading to Joseph’s sale as a slave, but with the patriarch Jacob himself.4 For, at the heart of the Christian construal of Genesis 37:3–4 is exemplarity, the sentiment that the lives of the patriarchs, as the ‘righteous’ (焏‫)ܙܕ̈ܝܩ‬ ̈ ‫)ܟ‬, are necessarily exemplary and therefore worthy of emuor the ‘just’ (焏‫ܢ‬焏 lation.5 Thus Narsai opens his homily on Joseph by acknowledging the compelling attractiveness of the exemplary lives of the just.6 Likewise, Ambrose observes at the beginning of his own sermon on Joseph that, ‘the lives of the saints are for the rest of men a pattern of how to live’. He continues, ‘Thus, as we come to know Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the other just men by our reading, we may, as it were, follow in their shining footsteps along a kind of path of blamelessness opened up to us by their virtue’.7 The tradition demands a Jacob and Joseph who are living exemplars, embodying those virtues that the audience expect to see in saints.8 But, how is this to be achieved? I begin this chapter by arguing that this exemplarity was maintained in one strand of the tradition through patterns of omission. Ephrem’s commentary on Genesis provides a large enough canvas upon which to observe such patters of omission. Most of the sources are unwilling to follow Ephrem’s lead. In the rest of the chapter, I explore how the tension between exemplarity and the problem of favouritism found in Gen. 37:3–4 is resolved in Balai, Narsai and, Jacob of Serugh.9

4 Clark, Reading Renunciation, 183–193 explores how Christian authors, especially those ‘of a more ascetic cast’, wrestled with the exemplarity of the patriarchal narratives. 5 In Joseph Son of Jacob, the disreputable deeds of Jacob and his family are recalled by Joseph ( Joseph Son of Jacob ii.739–794 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 594–596]), which is an interesting aberration of the theme explored here. 6 Narsai, On Joseph 1–2. Narsai extends the theme with a different metaphor: ‘The fair splendour of their ways is set up for me as a target towards which, if I am able, I will bend (my bow) through my words’ (Narsai, On Joseph 5–6). The third poem of the Balai cycle opens with an encomium on the inexhaustible richness of the stories of the just (Balai, On Joseph iii.1–40 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 71–73]). 7 Ambrose, On Joseph, 1.1. Colish’s argument that Ambrose’s sermons on the patriarchs were written expressly to provide moral and ethical models for catechumens instructively places the sermon on Joseph in the context of Ambrose’s community (Ambrose’s Patriarchs, 13–29). 8 The Syriac authors doubtless recognized, as does Skinner, that ‘[Joseph] is idealized as no other patriarchal personality is[, being] conceived as an ideal character in all the relations in which he is placed’ (Genesis, 440). Thus, little effort is taken to further idealize Joseph. It is rather the more problematic with Jacob, the main subject of this chapter, who is rewritten most thoroughly. 9 Syriac History of Joseph follows the biblical account without comment. Joseph Son of Jacob and Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres deal with this question by simply omitting the passage.

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Omitting the Problem: Ephrem’s Commentary on Genesis Ephrem’s retelling of chapter 37 of Genesis occupies only two brief paragraphs in Tonneau’s edition.10 He ignores verse one and the first two phrases of verse two, and begins with a conflation of the next two phrases: ‘And Joseph was shepherding the flock with the sons of the concubines’.11 Ephrem then appears to conflate the end of verse two with the end of verse four: ‘And he brought their evil report to their father; and because he had exposed their deeds, they hated him’.12 Ephrem’s intention at this point is clear. He wishes to provide a motive for the brothers’ later actions. He selects the first of Joseph’s deeds reported in the biblical narrative as a credible cause that does not conflict with his exegetical ideas. The envy that appears in the biblical narrative at the end of Genesis 37:4 is now brought forward to this point in the retelling. No mention is made of the contents of verse three and the beginning of verse four. Ephrem thereby expunges all mention of the father’s favouritism and the giving of the coat. Instead, he looks to the first reported action of Joseph to provide the motive for the brother’s hatred. By turning Joseph’s bringing of an evil report about the brothers to their father into an exposé, of which the brothers have knowledge, Ephrem successfully manages to lose an entire section of the introduction without compromising the necessary elements of the story. He deemed an explanation of the origin of Joseph’s coat unnecessary, only mentioning it later in the opening sections, during a brief comparison series.13 The coat is only mentioned again once in the commentary when Ephrem observes that Joseph was cast into prison without his garment, just as he was cast into the pit without his coat.14 Ephrem’s motives for recasting the opening of the story of Joseph are not immediately clear.15 Was the passage simply a necessary casualty of Ephrem’s

10 11 12 13

14

15

Tonneau, Sancti Ephraem Syri in Genesim, 95–96. Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 28.1. Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 28.1. Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 33.2: ‘Then Jacob sent Joseph to the flock to bring back to him news of his brothers; but they, by means of the coat bespattered with blood, sent to him the tidings of Joseph’. On the comparison series in Ephrem and Aphrahat, see Murray, ‘Some Rhetorical Patterns’. Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 35.3. It is clear that Ephrem is referring to the coat given to Joseph by Jacob in Gen. 37:3 because of his use of the term 焏‫ܬܝܢ‬熏‫ ܟ‬for the coat lost at the pit (Commentary on Genesis 33.2, 35.3; with reference to Gen. 37:3) and 焏‫ܫ‬熏‫ ܠܒ‬for the garment lost at the hand of Potiphar’s wife (Commentary on Genesis 35.1, 3). On Ephrem’s exegetical approach in the Genesis commentary, see Gerson, ‘Commentarien des Ephraem Syrus’; Van Rompay, ‘Christian Syriac Tradition’, esp. 622–628.

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succinct retelling of the narrative, or did he see this passage as problematic and rework it to solve an exegetical problem? If this were an isolated example it would be difficult to draw any conclusions. However, further examples of the same kind are found elsewhere. Two examples from the Genesis Commentary will illustrate the pattern: the episode later in the Joseph story when Jacob is told of Simeon’s captivity in Egypt and the account of how Jacob deceitfully obtained the birthright from Isaac.16 What connects the three examples is that in each case Ephrem is grappling with the problem of the parental favouritism that is explicit in the biblical narrative. Omitting the Problem Again: Benjamin and Simeon Later in the Joseph story, in the scene in which the brothers return from Egypt with food but without Simeon, Jacob is told that for Simeon to be set free, Benjamin must accompany them to Egypt.17 In the biblical narrative, Jacob asks the remaining brothers whether, having bereaved him of both Joseph and Simeon, they now wish to take Benjamin also (Gen. 42:36). Simeon is not mentioned again in the remainder of this scene (Gen. 42:37–43:14). In Ephrem’s retelling, the first reference to Benjamin is omitted in Jacob’s response to the news the brothers tell him on their return. Rather, Ephrem has it that, ‘Jacob was full of grief because of all that had happened to them, but even more because of Simeon who was imprisoned’.18 When the grain runs out, instead of the focus returning to Benjamin, Ephrem has the brothers implore Jacob to ‘spare Simeon for the sake of his children and be without your youngest son for a few days lest Simeon’s wife be widowed of Simeon’.19 In this way, Ephrem modifies the narrative to reduce the prominence of Jacob’s concern for Benjamin and raise his concern for all of his sons. Ephrem does include the exigency that results from the famine as an aspect of Jacob’s motive for sending Benjamin with the brothers,20 but the new and more compelling reason is the (manufactured) concern for Simeon’s welfare. By omitting an inconvenient passage and some creative additions, Ephrem is able to present Jacob as being more evenly concerned for the welfare of his sons rather than simply for the welfare of Joseph and Benjamin.

16 17 18 19 20

Gen. 27; Commentary on Genesis 25. Commentary on Genesis 37.1; with reference to Gen. 42:29–34. Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 37.2; italics mine. Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 37.2. Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 37.3; with reference to Gen. 43:1–2.

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Rebekah, Providence, and Another Omission In Ephrem’s retelling of the account of Jacob obtaining the birthright, he modified the motives guiding the actions of both Jacob and Rebekah. Firstly, it was necessary for Ephrem to omit the explicit statement in the biblical narrative that Rebekah loved Jacob and Isaac loved Esau (Gen. 25:28). Instead, he focused on the revelation to Rebekah that ‘the elder shall serve the younger’ (Gen. 25:23).21 It is with this revelation in mind that Jacob tries to purchase Esau’s birthright (Gen. 25:29–34). For Ephrem, Jacob did not simply contrive to take the birthright, but he did it ‘trusting in God who had said, “The Elder shall serve the younger”’.22 In the next scene, after Jacob has sent Esau out to the hunt and Rebekah has overheard what has passed between them, she ‘went and counselled Jacob lest the birthright of Esau be contrary to the word of God which said “the elder shall serve the younger”’.23 In the end of this episode, Isaac is unable to alter the blessing he gave to Jacob because ‘he knew that the will of the Lord had been accomplished just as it had been told to Rebekah’.24 In this example, two currents of Ephrem’s commentary intersect. The first is the desire to avoid specific references to favouritism which results in the necessary omission; the second is the emphasis on the providence of God in guiding

21

22 23 24

It seems likely that Ephrem’s concern that such revelations be fulfilled points indirectly to Christ as the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. Cyrillona’s homily On the Pasch makes the point most clearly when he has Christ say, ‘For this reason have I descended to the earth and become as one of her children so that the prophets who prophesied thus should not be made liars’ (Griffin, Works of Cyrillona, 92, lns. 31–34). Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 23.2. Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 25.1, with reference to Gen. 25:23. Mathews and Amar, St. Ephrem the Syrian, 172 (italics mine). Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 25.2, italics mine. Also compare the incident earlier in the commentary in which Sarah tells Abraham to dismiss Hagar and Ishmael (Commentary on Genesis 18.1–3; with reference to Gen. 21:2–19). Ephrem repeats Sarah’s terse command in the biblical narrative to ‘Cast out this (Peshitta) / the (Ephrem) slave woman and her son’, but then alters the reason for this request. The Peshitta reads, ‘because the son of this slave woman should not inherit with my son Isaac’ (Gen. 21:10). Whereas Ephrem gives, ‘because it is not just for the son of the slave woman to inherit with the son of the promise, that (promise) which was promised to him by God. You must not oppose God and make him an heir whom God has not made an heir’ (Commentary on Genesis 18.1). Ephrem makes three changes or additions to the Peshitta in his construal of the passage: He adds to the element of injustice—‘my son Isaac’ is replaced by ‘the son of the promise which had been promised to him by God’—and finally Abraham is warned not to not make an heir of him whom God had not made an heir. Ephrem appears to wish to do away with any implication that Sarah was choosing Isaac over Ishmael and to affirm that it is God’s promises that must be fulfilled.

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the actions of the patriarchal families, which bolsters the need for the omission as well as prompting some interesting additions to the biblical narrative. Clearly narratives needed to be modified and the characters of the patriarchs improved if the stories were to be made ‘food for the faithful’.25 There is much that can be said about Ephrem’s view of the Bible from these and other similar instances, and clearly there is much more left to explore in the largely neglected portions of Ephrem’s Genesis and Exodus commentary. Thus it seems imprudent to simply accept the assertion that ‘much of that portion of the commentary that treats the text subsequent to Genesis 4 is simply a paraphrasing of the biblical text’.26 This assumption should not be sufficient grounds to simply write off the remainder of the commentary as uninteresting.27 Rather, in accepting that ‘Ephrem more or less retells [the patriarchal narratives] in his own words’,28 it is no less important to recognize that the manner in which he retells the story has significance, not only because of insertions and expansions, but also because he ‘omits or glosses over certain parts of the biblical narrative, while highlighting others’.29 Alison Salvesen has drawn attention to some of these highlighted points,30 while also indicating some particular omissions. One example of this latter group relates to the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart: ‘Naturally enough [Ephrem] stresses that God gave the Egyptians plenty of chances to repent, and resists any suggestion that God made Pharaoh unable to do so by hardening his heart; but Ephrem can only do this by ignoring inconvenient passages in the biblical text’.31 This and other passages in the Exodus commentary have been examined by Jansma in an effort to show that Ephrem’s desire to maintain the validity of human freewill in relation to divine providence influenced the way he retold particular scriptural episodes.32 However, whereas Jansma drew his conclusions from the pluses presented in the commentary, Salvesen appreciated that the position could only be maintained by necessary minuses to the biblical narrative in Ephrem’s retelling, or as she put it, ‘by ignoring inconvenient passages

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Ephrem, Commentary on the Diatessaron, i.18. Mathews and Amar, St. Ephrem the Syrian, 60. The paucity of notes on the remainder of the commentary suggests that this may have been the case for Mathews. Salvesen, Exodus Commentary, 1. Salvesen, Exodus Commentary, 2. Salvesen, ‘Themes in Ephrem’s Exodus Commentary’. Salvesen, Exodus Commentary, 3–4. Jansma, ‘Ephraem on Exodus ii, 5’. Van Rompay, ‘Humanity’s Sin in Paradise’, 200 gives another example of how free will is essential to understanding Ephrem’s hermeneutics.

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in the biblical text’.33 Thus, like Origen, Ephrem seems to react to a perceived ‘unattractiveness of the surface meaning of so much of the Bible’ by a studied process of reworking and excising offending portions of the text.34 My purpose here has been to show that these omissions are not simply sporadic and arbitrary but conform to clear thematic patterns of expedient silence. Moreover, in the episodes discussed above I have shown that the omission of key passages in the biblical narrative is integral to Ephrem’s exegesis of the passage, or, in these examples, to Ephrem’s presentation of a particular individual. These examples show that Ephrem pointedly recreates biblical characters in order to preserve the virtue and status of the saints in a hostile environment, where the Old Testament was often a battleground rather than common ground between Ephrem, the Jews, and those Christians whom Ephrem considered heretics.35

Expanding the Problem: Balai Balai stands midway between Ephrem and Narsai in his treatment of this pericope. He wants to both ignore and embrace the problem of favouritism. He does this by expanding on the biblical portrayal of Joseph. He extols both his physical and his moral beauty: ‘The face of Joseph was beautiful, and his mind even more than his face. His limbs were full of life and his way of life was filled with wonder’.36 Earlier the poet describes how Joseph was clothed with good actions in the likeness of his father.37 Though he was the youngest brother, his wisdom made him richer than all of them in knowledge.38 Joseph is the ‘steadfast one’ (焏‫)ܬܩܢ‬39 who loved his God,40 was his friend,41 and taught his will in

33 34

35

36 37 38 39 40 41

Salvesen, Exodus Commentary, 4. Wiles, ‘Origen as Biblical Scholar’, 463, in which Wiles discusses how Origen dealt with the conflict between his belief in the inspiration of scripture and the embarrassing crudeness of much of the Old Testament. On Ephrem and the Jews see Shepardson, Anti-Judaism and Christian Orthodoxy. On Ephrem and heretics, see Griffith, ‘Setting Right the Church of Syria’; and ‘St. Ephraem, Bar Dayṣān’. Balai, On Joseph i.103–106 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 5). Balai, On Joseph i.91–93 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 5). Note the catalogue of similarities between Joseph and Jacob in Genesis Rabbah 84:6, cited in Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 69. Balai, On Joseph i.115–116 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 6). Balai, On Joseph i.55 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 3). Balai, On Joseph i.56 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 3). Balai, On Joseph i.83 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 5).

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the land.42 Having characterized Joseph in this way, the poet asks, ‘Who, then, would not love Joseph, who loved his God?’43 This descriptive expansion in the Syriac sources has some similarities to the development of the narrative in the Jewish tradition. Genesis Rabbah makes it clear that Jacob’s favouring of Joseph was seen as a problem in at least part of the Jewish tradition: ‘A man must not make a distinction among his children, for on account of the coat of many colours which our ancestor Jacob made for Joseph, they hated him’.44 This concern may have prompted authors to rework the narrative in the retellings, whether simply, as in Josephus,45 or more creatively, as in Midrash ha-Gadol, where Joseph is portrayed as a student of Jacob and Isaac who became so learned that he could teach the law to his elder brethren.46 Though it is difficult without more detailed study to determine the relationship between the Jewish and Syriac sources, the purpose of the narrative expansions in the two traditions is the same: Jacob acted appropriately in favouring Joseph, not because Joseph was the son of his old age (Gen. 37:3), but rather because Joseph was more deserving of his father’s love than his brothers. As Balai explains, ‘Now the just Jacob yearned for and loved (Joseph) because of two things: because he shone out very brightly in his beauty and he was brilliant in his way of life’.47 Where the traditions differ is in how Joseph’s character is developed. The Jewish tradition develops the motif of the wise or beautiful Joseph, which is extended in the Syriac tradition to emphasize the righteousness of Joseph. Thus, Balai’s account contains some elements of the wise or beautiful Joseph motif, which emphasize Joseph’s beauty, both of body and mind, and included Joseph being a teacher in the land,48 and his having more knowledge and wisdom than his brothers, which was a cause of envy.49 The

42 43 44 45

46

47 48 49

Balai, On Joseph i.56 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 3). Balai, On Joseph i.56–57 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 3–4). Freedman et al., Midrash Rabbah, ii.775. ‘Iakobos, having father Iosephos by Rachela, loved him more than the other sons because of the handsomeness of his body, owing to the nobility of his birth and the excellence of his soul, for he was outstanding in sagacity’ (Feldman, Judean Antiquities 1–4, 130–132). Targum Onkelos for Gen. 37:3, ‘And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was wise’ (Sperber, Bible in Aramaic 1, 61). For references, see Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, ii.5; v. 324–325 n. 3–6. Kugel quotes an older instance of this tradition from Artapanus (cited by Eusebius) and suggests how this motif may have developed from the biblical text (In Potiphar’s House, 70). Balai, On Joseph i.107–110 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 5). Balai, On Joseph i.56 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 3). Balai, On Joseph i.116–118 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 6).

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motif is developed, however, to focus on the uprightness of Joseph,50 the brilliance of his actions, and his love of God.51

Addressing the Problem: Narsai It is not until Narsai that Genesis 37:3–4 is treated openly as a problematic pericope. In the introduction to his memra on Joseph, Narsai expounds on the themes of justice or uprightness to respond specifically to the problem of favouritism implicit in Genesis 37:3. He inherited a tradition that either avoided this question,52 or, as is the case with Balai, followed a Judeo-Christian solution and modified the text such that Jacob loved Joseph because of his beauty and excellent actions. Where Balai handles the problem by painting a larger-thanlife Joseph and asking how Jacob could possibly not have loved him, Narsai offers instead a response that rests upon a concentrated portrayal of the patriarchal just ones and a chain of transmission of upright behaviour that begins with Abraham and is handed on down to Isaac and Jacob.53 Narsai deals with the problem of favouritism head on. In fact, he is bold enough to overtly raise the question that seemed to discomfort some of his predecessors: To what end did the just one apportion his love to his children, and anoint one with the oil of love more than his companions? To what end did he separate the unity of love that is set in nature, and throw a squabble among the twelve fruits of his belly? Why did he honour one limb and call him his own, when the whole body composed of his children was his own? Why did he rend the bond of equal compassion, and make one inherit a portion of love that exceeded his brothers?54 Though Narsai does answer these questions directly, it appears that favouritism is not strictly the problem he is tackling. If the question were ‘Why did Jacob favour Joseph?’, then the answer offered by Balai would have been adequate. 50 51 52 53 54

Balai, On Joseph i.110 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 5). Balai, On Joseph i.58, 94 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 4, 5). Though note how the episode is referred to by both Aphrahat and the Armenian Commentary on Genesis in their respective comparison series. The use of the chain of transmission in East Syriac scholastic and monastic contexts is noted in Becker, Fear of God, 107–108, and Debié, ‘Writing History’, 74. Narsai, On Joseph 55–62.

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Rather, the problematic is inequality, which is a larger and trickier issue. Previous writers who tackled Genesis 37:3 dealt with this passage as though it holds only one question, namely, why was Joseph favoured by his father? Evidently, he was, but the reason given for this favouritism in the biblical narrative seems altogether too arbitrary to adequately account for the behaviour of an Old Testament patriarch. So, in saying that Narsai treats a larger problem, I mean that he is not satisfied with a solution that leaves his audience feeling that Jacob’s favouritism was well founded. This was not compelling to Narsai. He agrees that Joseph was loved because he was diligent and righteous but argues that this same love would be gladly bestowed upon any of the brothers if they too would follow the path that Joseph followed. Narsai, therefore, is concerned to emphasize that Jacob’s was a judiciously apportioned love, not an exclusive or excluding love.55 Narsai alludes to the parable of the talents together with the parable of the labourers in the vineyard to help construct a more equitable worldview.56 The reference to the parable of the talents is recessive, and I believe intentionally so. The parable is evoked using the verb ‘to trade’ (犯‫)ܐܬܬܓ‬, but Narsai moves quickly on to the dominant metaphor of the workers in the vineyard. It seems reasonable to suggest that the parable of the talents is evoked because Narsai is a vocal advocate of the diligence that it promotes.57 However, the parable has an inequality at its heart, which Narsai replaces with the equality of the parable of the labourers in the vineyard.58 This parable demonstrates that a system that appears to be rife with inequality actually results in equality. Thus, the argument that it is inappropriate for labourers who worked for a different 55 56

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58

Jacob’s judiciousness is a function of his discernment, on which see Morrison, ‘Faculty of Discernment in Narsai’. Or could Narsai be drawing on Aphrahat’s interpretation of this parable, in which the various labourers are in fact rewarded according to their diligence, or length of service, rather than simply receiving the same wage? Likewise, Ephrem denotes the first labourers as the ‘diligent ones’ (‫)ܟܫܝܪܐ‬. Aphrahat also denotes the good and faithful servant in the Parable of the Talents as a ‘diligent person’ (‫ܐ‬犯‫)ܟܫܝ‬. The relevant passages in Ephrem and Aphrahat are discussed in Valavanolickal, Use of the Gospel Parables, 118–131. See also Narsai, On Joseph 4, where Narsai desires to set out with the diligent ones. Note the stern remarks against ‘laziness’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ܝܢ‬焏‫ )ܡ‬and ‘sloth’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ )ܚܒܢܢ‬in Narsai’s memra 47 On the Workers in the Vineyard 1–18 (Siman, Narsaï, 61, couplets 1–9). Brock also notes that, ‘Although this term (‫ܐ‬犯‫‘ ܟܫܝ‬diligent one’) does not feature in any of the Syriac Gospel versions, it is regularly used by early Syriac writers in connection with the parables of the labourers in the vineyard and of the talents’ (Brock and Kiraz, Ephrem the Syrian, 15 n. 7). This latter parable is crucial because it shows how inequality and equality can be neatly reconciled into one whole. Narsai is not opposed to inequality per se, in fact, he cites several examples of inequality from nature and scripture to demonstrate its ubiquity and pro-

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number of hours to receive the same wages is countered by the point that the pay is always agreed upon by both the Lord and the labourer. Since, for Narsai, the pay to the faithful is the denarius of eternal life, it is seen as being an entirely equitable arrangement. There is an inequality in human labour, but equality in God’s reward. Narsai’s application of this parable to Genesis 37:3 rests on his commitment to the ‘justness’, or ‘uprightness’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ܢ‬焏‫ )ܟ‬of the patriarchal figures.59 These exemplary figures are thoroughly rational beings who came to God through their rationality and were taught his ways through their minds. Jacob acted judiciously in his preference for Joseph; his agency overcoming any natural inclination to love all his children equally. Instead, he favoured those who pursued the right path and loved him and his Lord, and so set Joseph up as an exemplar to inculcate in his brothers a zeal for uprightness.60 Thus, the key to Narsai’s construction of Joseph is this ideal of uprightness, or justice.61

59 60

61

priety. A favourite theme is the inequality of the will and human nature. Narsai observes that humans are free, so long as they are rational (Narsai, On Joseph 77), and that a person’s individual volition enables them to make choices contrary to his nature (69). Appealing to metaphor, Narsai explains that human discernment is the charioteer that drives the chariot of nature (70), or the steersman that steers the ship of nature into the peaceful harbour (72; for further examples see Brock, ‘Charioteer and Helmsman’). Humans are thus whole, yet divided (Narsai, On Joseph 74), but not rent into pieces (81), rather divided into that which leads and that which is led. Narsai explores this theme of wholes that are divided elsewhere in the first part of this memre. Jacob’s children, the Lord’s apostles, the twelve sheaves in Joseph’s dream, the twelve months of the year are all given as examples of wholes that at the same time have parts that act or are treated differently than each other. I use Robert Kitchen translations of ‘upright’ and ‘uprightness’ for 焏‫ܢ‬焏‫ ܟ‬and ‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ܢ‬焏‫ܟ‬ (Kitchen and Parmentier, Book of Steps, x–xi.) interchangeably with ‘just’ and ‘justice’. Narsai emphasizes that it was God who first depicted these spiritual ideals in the minds of humans, thereby creating a desire to pursue spiritual things (Narsai, On Joseph 21–24). He further identifies the just ones as those who are enlisted in this new spiritual way (41), those who agreed to the wage of a denarius a day (25; with reference to Matt 20:2), which is the denarius of the promised life (40). Abraham, Isaac and Jacob enlisted as spiritual labourers in the vineyard of love, chosen as such by the creator (25–27). There is a mutual choosing at play here. The spiritual ideals planted by God inspire humans to choose to love him (93, 135–144), and in turn, God chooses those who do love him, and loves and blesses them (21, 151–152). It was the love of these just ones that inspired Narsai to picture in his mind their way of life, their stories (1–2), and at the end of his memra, it is the deeds of the just that Narsai commends to his hearers (791–808). God manifests himself as Justice in directing the course of Joseph’s life, both in guiding the merchants to the pit (275) and in directing Potiphar to the market to purchase Joseph (397). Justice is the ideal that Jacob sets up for his sons (85), where it is paired with righteousness (86). ‘Justice’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ܢ‬焏‫)ܟ‬, then is more than acting justly, in a legalistic

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Jacob is repeatedly referred to as one of the just,62 and it is towards the way of justice that he tried to encourage his children.63 Joseph responded enthusiastically, following the way of his father.64 Love constrained Joseph’s natural inclination,65 so that he became discerning,66 learning intuitively to love God and his father.67 He was diligent like his fathers before him in pursing the course of righteousness, and like them,68 he was chosen by God,69 favoured by dreams,70 and was on the path of the just.71 This is the reason he was favoured by Jacob.72 A comparison between Balai’s and Narsai’s response to Genesis 37:3 exposes some similarities, but also striking differences. In both cases, Joseph’s good character is expounded, and is given as the reason for his being favoured by Jacob. But Balai’s Joseph is larger than life. He is like purified gold;73 conducting himself in the fear of the Lord;74 beautiful and lively;75 knowledgeable and wise,76 recognizing his greater rank in nobility and modesty.77 Joseph is the true hero of Balai’s opening section, his father being little more than a foil, who loved Joseph’s shining beauty and illustrious deeds,78 his devotion to wisdom,79 and his justice;80 who, in fact, could not help loving his son Joseph,81 because his beauty shone out so brightly, and his way of life was so laudable.82

62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82

sense, but rather it is the ideal of the way of life of the just ones, who in turn are imitating the Just One, God (44). Narsai, On Joseph 55, 79, 81, 89, 687, 724, 754, 762, 772. Narsai, On Joseph 85. Narsai, On Joseph 41. Narsai, On Joseph 96. Narsai, On Joseph 137. Narsai, On Joseph 139–144. Narsai, On Joseph 45. Narsai, On Joseph 151. Narsai, On Joseph 154. Narsai, On Joseph 231. Note also how in Narsai memra 31 Against the Jews, Abraham is said to have received his election because of his great love for God, as observed in Frishman, Ways and Means, iii, 31 n.106. Balai, On Joseph i.59–60, 97–98 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 4, 5). Balai, On Joseph i.91–94 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 5). Balai, On Joseph i.103–110 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 5). Balai, On Joseph i.115–118, 135–138 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 6, 6–7). Balai, On Joseph i.129–130 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 6). Balai, On Joseph i.107–110 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 5). Balai, On Joseph i.135–138 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 6–7). Balai, On Joseph i.113 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 6). Balai, On Joseph i.57–58 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 4). Balai, On Joseph i.108–110 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 5).

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In Narsai’s memra Jacob is quite different—more rational, and self-possessed. Being one of the original three labourers chosen by the Lord of the Vineyard, he was Joseph’s model, and exemplar, whom Joseph was taught to love and respect. Joseph was not the prodigy of bemused but adoring parents, rather he was his father’s apprentice,83 called to the same trade,84 favoured by the same God; a good apprentice but one not yet fully formed.85 Narsai’s Joseph does not become ‘righteous Joseph’ (焏‫ܢ‬焏‫ ܟ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ )ܝ‬until after the trial in Potiphar’s house and after he had interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and been honoured in the Egyptian court.86 In fact, I think Narsai does not see Joseph as being fully formed until he is reunited with his father, having seen his dreams fulfilled and having overcome all trials. At that point, Joseph stands properly in the company of his father, worthy of his worship and a fitting type of the Lord,87 the just with the just, the righteous before the righteous.88 Jacob’s love for Joseph was the natural response of a parent to seeing a child flourish in the path that he himself had chosen;89 but such approbation need not have been given in public. This is the root of the problem. It was not that Jacob loved Joseph, but that his inordinate love for Joseph was demonstrably apparent. Narsai treats this criticism directly, however, and does not allow that Jacob was simply unaware of the implications of his actions; rather, he indicates that Jacob deliberately loved Joseph openly.90 He set Joseph up as an example to his brothers to inspire them with zeal, showing them that they too would be beloved if they also were righteous.91

83 84 85

86 87 88 89 90

91

Narsai, On Joseph 41. Narsai, On Joseph 45. Notice that Narsai’s opening description of Joseph includes his conquering the bodily passions. Narsai does not see Joseph as fully formed before he is sold into slavery, but he was on the right path. Narsai, On Joseph 668. Narsai, On Joseph 776–777. Narsai, On Joseph 772, 774. Narsai, On Joseph 51–52. Narsai, On Joseph 119–120. See also, Narsai, On Joseph 147–148: ‘He loved him secretly because he saw that the hidden one was concealed in his love, And he honoured him openly because he controlled his senses and his will’. Note also how Narsai construes God’s rejection of Cain’s sacrifice not as a rejection but as a warning (discussed in Frishman, Ways and Means, iii, 22). Narsai, On Joseph 86. Narsai not infrequently uses the particular favour shown to one individual to promote added zeal for God in his congregation. For example, Narsai memre 76 On Enoch and Elijah 227–228, where God blessed Enoch and Elijah to ‘raise zeal in the minds of men that they be good’. Other figures so used are Abraham (Frishman, Ways and Means, iii, 25), John the Beloved, Martha, and Lazarus.

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However, humans are inclined to different actions, depending on the path they are following. Joseph’s brothers are inclined towards evil,92 and rather than being provoked to righteousness by Jacob’s demonstrative love for Joseph, they were filled with envy. This envy was blind to all considerations that could temper it and shared its blindness with those who embraced it.93 Jacob sees the seeds of envy that the dreams planted,94 and he worries that Joseph’s disappearance may have been their fruit.95 Narsai perhaps drew inspiration from Balai’s fine opening discourse on envy. His sentiment that ‘those who peddle [envy] are killed by envy’96 summarizes more prosaically the opening lines of Balai’s first memra, in which he observes, ‘Envy is a strong arrow which kills the one who lets it loose’.97 In Narsai, however, pride of place is given to justice. He prefers to set up Jacob and Joseph as exemplars rather than lay undue emphasis on the action of the brothers.98 Thus, it would seem that just as Jacob held up Joseph to inspire a zeal for righteousness in his brothers, so too Narsai holds up the ancient just ones to inspire that same zeal in all who would hear and take heed to his sermons, ‘Saying, if [you] are declared righteous [you] will be loved like Joseph’.99

Preaching the Problem: Jacob of Serugh, Christ, and Harran In the opening passages of his first homily, Jacob is interested in extoling the righteousness of Jacob and Joseph, and in explaining one cause of the brother’s behaviour. He describes how Joseph was nurtured ‘in the spiritual orders’ of his father, ‘and because of that, he gathered boundless understanding’.100 Like Narsai, Jacob portrays a closeness between Joseph and his father inspired by a shared righteousness. ‘There was a spiritual accord’ between them, observes Jacob, ‘that they would mediate upon the business of the household of God’.101 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

99 100 101

Narsai, On Joseph 187, 210. Narsai, On Joseph 219, 223, 494. Narsai, On Joseph 206. Narsai, On Joseph 353. Narsai, On Joseph 633. Balai, On Joseph i.5–6 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 2). See Kim, ‘Cain and Abel’, for a useful discussion of the use of envy and sibling rivalry in early Christian presentations of the story of Cain and Abel to divert attention away from the problematic issue of the seeming arbitrariness of God. Narsai, On Joseph 86. Jacob, On Joseph i.24–25. Jacob, On Joseph i.36.

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Jacob and Joseph shared a common way of life. But what about the brothers? Jacob introduces a unique data point to help account for the vast difference between Joseph and his brothers. He explains this difference by recalling that the brothers grew up in pagan Harran (cf. Gen. 28:43–44). In drawing this connection, Jacob made the story of Joseph local history (Harran was less than fifty kilometres from Edessa, and about 60 kilometres from Serugh), with immediate resonance in a world where contemporaneous Harran was still largely pagan.102 Joseph upbringing is not so different from the upbringing of the children of those in Jacob’s congregations. Thus, there is added significance when the audience hears that, ‘while Jacob would go out to the flock innocently, his sons were growing up among the pagans devoid of understanding’.103 Elsewhere in his corpus, Jacob refers to Harran as the ‘womb of idols and graven images’.104 In doing so, he drew upon a rich vein of literary image of pagan Harran, perhaps epitomized in Ephrem’s Carmina Nisibena 33.105 Yes, this is the homeland of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, but in Jacob’s imagination it was the ‘cruel society’ (焏‫ܝ‬犯‫ܝ‬犯‫ ܒܥ‬焏‫ )ܥܢܝܢ‬in which Joseph’s brothers were raised (and many of his contemporary Christians).106 Joseph was immune to its attractions, ‘for, from his youth, he was brought up in the religious life’.107 He fixed his mind on his father, ‘and learned from him how to live wisely’, with the result that he rejected the cruel and unvirtuous ways of his brothers.108 Still, for Jacob of Serugh, Joseph is not irresistible, but Jesus is, and Jesus shone through Joseph, empowered him on his journey, and effected how others behaved around him. Thus, Joseph’s father ‘loved Joseph greatly’ not because he rejected his pagan society or shared his religious sensibilities, but ‘because of the beauty of the Son of God that rested upon him’.109 And he made a coat for him not because he favoured him, but because ‘truth constrained him to depict the crucifixion in him’.110 There are clear moments when Joseph is com-

102

103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110

On Edessa and Harran in the first millennium ce, see Segal, Edessa and Harran. A recent portrayal of Christianity in fourth-century Harran is given in Possekel, ‘Transformation of Harran’. For a description of Harran in Late Antiquity, see Green, City of the Moon God, 47–93; and Toepel, ‘Late Paganism’, esp. 514–517. Jacob, On Joseph i.29. Jacob, On the Betrothal of Rebekah 76 (Akhrass and Syryany, i.479). In the Julian Romance (Sokoloff 252–253) Harran is the “mother of idolatry” (‫ܘܬܐ‬犯‫ܟ‬狏‫ ܕܦ‬煿̇‫)ܐܡ‬. Russell, ‘St Ephraem’s Carmina Nisibena 33’. Jacob, On Joseph i.27. Jacob, On Joseph i.30. Jacob, On Joseph i.32–35. Jacob, On Joseph i.37. Jacob, On Joseph i.38.

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mendable, such as in his resistance to Potiphar’s wife, which inspires wonder in the spectating angels and demons.111 But in Jacob’s homilies, the audience are constantly being invited to transfer their gaze from Joseph to Jesus.

Conclusions In this chapter I have plotted the fate of these two verses from the strategic silence of Ephrem’s Commentary on Genesis to their place in Narsai’s vision of a chain of righteousness running from Abraham to Joseph and Jacob’s commitment to the fundamental explanatory power of testimony of Jesus in Joseph. The giving of the coat disappeared from Ephrem and Joseph Son of Jacob, but in Narsai’s On Joseph, it became the sure sign that Joseph had joined the company of the patriarchal just, and in Jacob, Joseph putting on the coat enacts a type of the crucifixion. For both Ephrem and Narsai, however, their construal of the narrative is a deliberate attempt to preserve the integrity of the scriptural exemplars, and thus retain the virtue of the pursuit of the scriptural self.112 The genre in which Narsai worked allowed him to explore this theme more fully than Ephrem does in his commentary, yet it seems reasonable to conclude that Ephrem’s omission of this story is every bit as deliberate an act as Narsai’s notion of Joseph as the just heir to a tradition of uprightness. What is true of Narsai alone, however, is the confidence with which he can identify and construe this problematic pericope. This is part of the freedom afforded by the homiletic genre and marks an important distinction between the exegetical possibilities of the homily as compared with the narrative poem. The homily is a more versatile genre. 111 112

Jacob, On Joseph iv.171–176. Discussed in Heal, ‘Narsai and the Scriptural Self’.

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Imagining Monstrosity (Gen. 37:5–28) Heaven hides nothing from thy view, Nor the deep tract of Hell. milton, Paradise Lost i.27–28.

∵ The promise of Joseph is found in his belovedness, but even more so in his dreams. This promise, instead of inspiring respect in the brothers, provokes resentment and plans for betrayal. This provides a chance to explore some of the strategies the sources employ to convey the darker sides of existence. The effect is not simply to vilify Joseph’s brothers, though that is achieved, but rather to set Joseph and Jacob in even greater relief. The heights of their righteousness seem all the loftier compared to the depths of the brothers’ depravity. Moreover, this contrast is not attained by simply assembling a series of commonplaces and tropes to evoke the idea of bad men. The sources, especially Balai, produce portraits of the brothers that seem to result more from an effort to journey into the mind of darkness, than simply from an attempt to reproduce traditional caricatures. The very same approach of imagining the mind of the righteous that resulted in the interesting portrayals of Joseph and Jacob, discussed in the previous chapters, is here employed to better convey a sense of the nature of brothers who were willing to sell their brother into slavery. In this chapter, I pursue the depravity of the brothers by exploring the interconnected images of enmity, duplicity, and brutality found in the performance of betrayal in Genesis 37. Peter Dronke, in his study of the imagination in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, emphasized that the ‘darker images of existence …, the ways of imagining brutality or foulness, torment or monstrosity’ deserve further investigation.1 In the previous two chapters, I focused on the invention of ideal exemplary figures, and in this and the final chapters on Potiphar’s wife, I shall explore how the sources go about imagining the very opposite of the ideal that they are commending to their audiences.

1 Dronke, Imagination, x.

© Kristian S. Heal, 2023 | doi:10.1163/9789004526969_006

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The imagining of opposites is an integral part of the dialogue genre, extending back to its roots in the Sumerian dispute poem.2 Poets writing in this genre had to imagine and articulate both sides of a debate, and though there was a predetermined victor, the process of arguing from both sides was nevertheless engaged in with vigour and real creativity, ensuring the perpetuation of the genre. The narrative poems on Joseph have moved beyond a simple debate in alternating stanzas, but there is clearly a continuity, in terms of speech acts, across the spectrum of the genres.3 What, however, is the significance of this particular mode of imaginative engagement? How is the effort culturally and aesthetically bounded? How is it tempered? Ephrem could sing about entering Paradise in his mind, and the audience would sing with him. Narsai could enter on the path of the just in his mind and encourage others to follow. What are Christian authors doing imagining monstrosity? Why did they imagine violence? Is this imagined violence, or did it relate to their own experience? These are some of the questions that I address in this and the following chapters. In attending to these questions, I recognize with Martin Zimmermann that ‘one must always be aware of the fact that the authors of these images and texts carefully thought out their renditions with an intended impact in mind’. Syriac poets worked in particular genres, with specific goals. They also worked in particular performative and literary contexts. The Syriac poets ‘were deeply familiar with their audience’s accustomed patterns of perception and potential for making associations. The authors’ aims and the process of reception needs to be painstakingly reconstructed from a modern perspective, and this can only be achieved if we make clear distinctions between modern moral evaluations and ancient judgments. This is a major methodological problem for any study of violence’.4 This kind of careful attention and painstaking criticism informs my approach to these sources. It is important to notice the interpretative, protreptic and diverting elements, and recognize that each image and figure is created and deployed deliberately. Thus, in addition to describing and tracing the darker images created by these poets, I will also attend to the broader function of the images and their setting within the narrative. Finally, I am interested in whether this kind of imaginative descent is a more authentic reading of scripture. Is it necessary to descend to depravity in order to march imaginatively into paradise? In attending to these aspects of the story, in 2 As discussed, for example, in Brock, ‘Dispute Poem’. 3 Dialogue is used as a lens to explore the continuities between dialogue poetry, narrative poetry, and verse homilies in Brock, ‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’. 4 Zimmermann, ‘Violence in Late Antiquity Reconsidered’, 344.

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following the hearts and minds of authors as they imagine and portray the terrible worlds that often lay between the sparse letters on the page, it is possible to appreciate more fully what it means to read scripture imaginatively rather than forensically.5

Enmity, or the Motive for Fratricide (Gen. 37:3–11) In each of the sources, the growing hatred of the brothers is the catalyst for the chain of events that leads to Joseph’s disappearance.6 Although not all the sources agree on what first provokes this hatred, or how best to articulate it, there are none that fail to acknowledge the causal link.7 The seeds of hatred that flourish in the texts were sown in the Book of Genesis. Three declarations of the brothers’ loathing punctuate the opening scene of chapter 37, destroying any hope of the reader finding familial bliss in the ancestral home. The sentiment is not simply repeated, though the repetition is meaningful, but builds, as the addition of subtle nuances sensitizes the listener to the animosity in the air. The climax comes with the shift in verbs.8 In the first instance, the brothers feel a hatred for Joseph that is sufficient to break down all friendly communication (Gen. 37:4). The effect is to create distance between the brothers, described by the verb ‘to hate’ (焏‫)ܣܢ‬, which here suggests loathing, or the kind of hate that prompts separation. That there are degrees of hatred expressed by this verb is suggested by the fact that this hatred then increases (Gen. 37:5). Finally, the brothers make the transition to a feeling of jealous indignation (Gen. 37:11), expressed with a verb that does not simply describe an emotion, but a condition that tends towards action (‘to burn with jealousy’). The resulting action seems to be the brothers’ departure (Gen. 37:12) and ultimately the sale of Joseph. Thus, in the Book of Acts, when Stephen summarizes Genesis 5 I contrast forensic and narrative exegesis in Heal, ‘Construal and Construction’. 6 This hatred is also construed as ‘envy’ (焏‫)ܚܣܡ‬, as in Balai, On Joseph i.1–30 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 1–2) and Narsai, On Joseph 219–223. Even Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres is not excepted, for even though the narrative begins after these events arise, the brothers still seek to kill Joseph because of resentment for his being favoured by Jacob. 7 The alternative causes are in effect responses to the problem of favouritism discussed in the previous chapter. Further to the discussion there, I should also note how in Commentary on Genesis 33.1, it is Joseph’s bearing of bad news that is the cause of his brothers’ hatred. This is echoed in Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph (Text 29), 131, where although Joseph only reported a few of the many things he could have said about the brothers, they still hated him. 8 Though the Peshitta is of course simply replicating the shift in verbs in its Vorlage, it is nevertheless important to start the inquiry with the Peshitta, rather than Hebrew Bible, since the Peshitta provides the linguistic materials for the authors of the sources.

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37, the story is compressed into an expression of the brothers’ final emotional state using the verb ‘to burn with jealousy’ (爯‫ )ܛܢ‬and the sale of Joseph into Egypt (Acts 7:9).9 I will return to the question of how the sources built upon this connection in the next section. First, however, I will examine the fruit that these three expressions of contempt yield in the imaginations of their authors. The Syriac History of Joseph exhibits the same tripartite expression of hatred. The pattern of development is also largely reproduced. What is different is the intensity of the brothers’ feelings and a shift in the narrative mode from a description of exterior actions to interior desires. Two intensifiers set the tone for the first statement of the brothers’ contempt. On seeing that their father loved Joseph more than them, ‘they were filled with an especial envy (焏‫ܚܣܡ‬ ‫ܐ‬犯‫ܝ‬狏‫ )ܝ‬for Joseph. And they hated him severely (狏‫ܝ‬焏‫’)ܩܫܝ‬.10 The Syriac History thus advances the brothers’ feeling of envy, a theme emphasized later in the Syriac tradition, before reproducing the verbiage of the Peshitta, which is duly modified by the intensifying adverb. The middle expression is thoroughly reworked to express the biblical idea of increased feelings of hostility, while also introducing additional vocabulary to convey these feelings better. The Peshitta’s theme of ‘hatred’ (焏‫ )ܣܢ‬is replaced by the notion of ‘enmity’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ܒܒ‬煟‫)ܒܥܠ‬, which too increased upon hearing Joseph’s dreams.11 It is the final expression, however, that is most fully reworked. The simplicity and suggestiveness of the Peshitta’s stark declaration is replaced by a battery of phrases designed to leave the reader in no doubt about either the brothers’ feelings or their intentions. On hearing the second dream, the brothers’ initial reaction is visceral: ‘Anger entered (爏‫ )ܐܬܥܠ‬into them’.12 The clear parallel here with John 13:27 should perhaps be seen as a subtle nod towards the tradition of construing Joseph as a type of Christ. And the verbal link with the betrayal of Jesus by Judas would not have escaped the notice of those listening to this story. This reaction produces a pair of effects, each of which describes the hidden thoughts of the brothers. They ‘were furious with him’ (‫ܐ‬狏‫ܗܝ ܚܡ‬熏‫ ܥܠ‬熏‫ )ܠܒܫ‬and ‘they plotted’ (熏‫ )ܐܬܚܫܒ‬to murder

9

10 11

12

‘And our fathers burned with indignation for Joseph, and they sold him to Egypt’ (‫ܢ‬熏‫ܘܗܢ‬ 爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫̱ܗܝ ܠܡ‬熏‫ ܘܙܒܢ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ ܒܝ‬熏‫ܬܢ ܛܢ‬煿‫)ܐܒ‬. The parallel between the verses is clearer in the Peshitta than it is between the lxx and the Greek New Testament. Syriac History of Joseph 1.7. It seems likely that this abstract noun would also convey the idea of its base noun ‘the adversary’ or ‘the devil’ (焏‫ܒܒ‬煟‫)ܒܥܠ‬, even though the devil is referred to consistently as ‘Satan’ (焏‫ )ܣܛܢ‬later in the narrative. Syriac History of Joseph 2.8.

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him.13 The choice of the second verb seems deliberate. It reinforces the parallel evoked previously between the brothers and Judas by using language from Psalms 41:8.14 The connection with Judas casts the darkest of shadows over the brothers of Joseph, hinting at the treachery to come, since, in the Syriac tradition, Judas is seen as the very epitome of Satan’s work. As Ephrem says in the Hymns on Paradise, ‘though Satan’s history is a long one, it is summed up in the Iscariot’.15 The Syriac History further transforms the biblical narrative by introducing new vocabulary to convey the brothers’ reaction to Joseph’s dreams. What is yet to be developed in the biblical narrative is now openly anticipated in the retelling. A significant addition is the insertion of the feeling of ‘envy’ (焏‫)ܚܣܡ‬ as the initial reaction of the brothers to hearing the first dream. Already in Aphrahat the cause of the sale of Joseph has been extended to include both ‘hatred’ (‫ܬܐ‬焏‫ )ܣܢ‬and envy,16 thus taking into account the plain meaning of the Peshitta, while also extending that meaning in order to, it seems, take into account the gospel narrative. The three synoptic Gospels agree that if there was one factor determining the mass rejection of Jesus it was envy. Significantly, this fact was immediately recognized by Pilate (Matt. 27:18; Mark 15:10), while Luke makes the point when Jesus heals on the Sabbath (Luke 6:11). In Joseph Son of Jacob, all pretensions of exploring the emotions of the brothers have vanished, as has any imperative to employ the language of the biblical narrative. The tradition is transformed, as the biblical narrative’s (and the Syriac History’s) tripartite progression is collapsed into a single statement: ‘[The brothers] were consumed with envy, and plotted (焯‫[ )ܐܬܚܫ‬Joseph’s] destruction’.17 Similarly, envy becomes the Leitmotif for Balai’s opening memra on Joseph, the first forty lines of which are a lyrical meditation on the theme. This development, it seems, loomed sufficiently large in the tradition to thoroughly influence Narsai’s portrayal of the brothers, who may now simply be referred ̈ to as the ‘envious men’ (焏‫)ܚܣܡ‬, without any other qualification.18 13

14

15 16 17 18

Syriac History of Joseph 2.8. Compare Balai, On Joseph i.946 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 38): ‘you grew this angry with him’ (‫ܗܝ‬ ̱ 熏‫ܘܢ ܥܠ‬狏‫ܐ ܠܒܫ‬熟‫)ܗܢ ܪܘܓ‬. The sharing of this unusual collocation in the description of this scene suggests not only influence, but that Balai was rewriting the tradition rather than the Peshitta. A single manuscript, London, British Library Oriental 4528f. 3v, reproduces both verbs from Ps. 41:8, giving the first clause as ‘and they murmured fury against him’ (熏‫ܘܐܬܠܚܫ‬ ‫ܐ‬狏‫ܗܝ ܚܡ‬熏‫)ܥܠ‬. Hymns on Paradise xv.15 (Brock, St Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns on Paradise, 187). On Judas in the early Syriac tradition, see Griffin, ‘Vessel of Wrath’. Aphrahat, Demonstration 14.40. Joseph Son of Jacob i.30 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 523). Narsai, On Joseph 641, 683; see also Balai, On Joseph i.349, 389 (Bedjan, Histoire complète,

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Narsai describes the brother’s feelings towards Joseph as the ‘bitterness of soul’ (焏‫ܬ ܢܦܫ‬犯‫)ܡ‬.19 As these feelings heighten, they ‘hate him’ (犯‫)ܣܩ‬ exceedingly,20 and increasingly.21 Narsai’s choice of verb is interesting. It suggests intense, but un-acted upon loathing. The sort of loathing that is conveyed through sideways glances and maligning words.22 Narsai suggests that this restraint will not last long, introducing the notion that the brothers are ‘insolent’ (焏‫ܚ‬犯‫)ܡ‬,23 an appellation that is used repeatedly when the brothers are attacking and selling Joseph.24 Balai is much more allusive in his descriptions of the brothers, approaching them gradually though deliberately through metaphor and simile. Thus, in the opening section on envy, the brothers are bowmen loosing the arrows of envy against Joseph,25 sowers who sow tares,26 and hunters who lay snares and traps;27 though in each case they are either ineffective or self-destructive. When the brothers hear that Jacob loved Joseph more than them, they are ‘angry’ (‫ܝ‬犯‫)ܐܟ‬, and this ‘anger’ (‫ܐ‬熟‫ )ܪܘܓ‬increases when they hear the dreams, until it becomes a bitter churning hatred.28 Motivated by these feelings, they begin to look for a way to murder Joseph.29

19

20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29

15, 17). Interestingly, Narsai specifically identifies the first cause of the brother’s envy to be Joseph’s beauty and fine mind (Narsai, On Joseph 191–192). Note the comment by Molenberg that Narsai was resented by the former nun Mamai because of his fine appearance and good teaching (‘On the Reproof of Eve’s Daughters’, 66; the reference to an article by Jansma to substantiate this statement is incorrect—I have yet to find the correct reference). Narsai, On Joseph 190. Compare Jud. 18:25; 1 Sam. 1:10. See also, Narsai memra 12 On the Iniquity of the World 216 (Mingana, Narsai, i.106.17): 焏‫ ܡ‬爯‫ܗܬ ܡ‬犯‫ ܐܬܦ‬焏‫ ܠ‬爯‫ܬ ܢܦܫ‬犯‫ܘܡ‬ 煿̇‫ܝ‬狏‫‘ ܕܐܝ‬but the venom in our soul lost nothing from what it was’ (trans. Van Rompay). On the connection between bitterness, envy, and inclination (‫ܪܐ‬犏‫ )ܝ‬in Narsai, see Becker, ‘ “Evil Inclination” of the Jews’. Narsai, On Joseph 191. Narsai, On Joseph 193. As I mentioned above, Narsai also uses 焏‫ܚܣܡ‬, the more usual word for envy. Narsai, On Joseph 211. Narsai, On Joseph 233, 287, 291, 295. Joseph Son of Jacob uses the same root in both nominal and adverbial forms to describe Potiphar’s wife and her actions against Joseph (e.g., Joseph Son of Jacob i.344, 355 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537, 538]). Balai, On Joseph i.5–6 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 2). Balai, On Joseph i.13 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 2). Balai, On Joseph i.33 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 3). Balai, On Joseph i.139–141, 178–182 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 7, 8). Balai, On Joseph i.143–146 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 8).

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Duplicity, or Why Joseph Was Sent to Shechem (Gen. 37:11–14) At this point the air is crackling with animosity. The brothers not only hate Joseph, but long before they leave the family homestead, they declare their intentions to murder him.30 I have traced the origin of this hatred in chapter 3, but several questions remain unanswered: Did Jacob not know, or even suspect, the nature of the brothers’ feelings for Joseph? Why did the brothers go out to the flock? And, how, if suspicions had been raised, did it come about that Joseph was sent out to the brothers? In tackling these three questions, I am trying to better explain a unique twist in the tradition effected by Balai. For, whereas the rest of the sources include the device of the brothers plotting against Joseph, only Balai develops this motif by introducing the theme of trickery or duplicity on the part of the brothers. After a failed attempt to arouse their father’s ire at what they consider to be the unforgivable presumptuousness of Joseph’s dreams, the brothers counsel (燿‫ )ܡܠ‬together regarding Joseph’s murder. As is fitting for the genre, the content of this counsel is given in a long speech. The speech is made all the more interesting by the inclusion of imagined quoted dialogue.31 The motif of deception is actually first introduced in Balai by Jacob. The brothers, on hearing the second of Joseph’s dreams, decide together that the best way to deal with Joseph is have him relate his dream to their father, whom they feel is dishonoured by it.32 Jacob’s ears prick up when he hears the word ‘dreams’, and he begins to relate one of his own dream experiences.33 Joseph then relates the second dream and, contrary to the brothers’ expectation that their father would rebuke Joseph, Jacob instead reflects silently on the dreams. Because of his own dreams relating to Esau, he is inclined to believe what is promised to Joseph in his dream. However, in an internal monologue he articulates his concerns about the anger of the brothers and his determination to trick them by openly rebuking Joseph while all the while privately believing him. Jacob’s plan fails, however, because the brothers immediately interpret his silence as belief. Prompted by this experience, the brothers plot Joseph’s death.

30

31 32 33

Narsai also has the brothers plot against Joseph, though he does not go so far as to specify its nature or objective. Rather, ‘the inclination of his brothers was bent upon hatching a ̄ 牟‫ܛܢ‬犏‫ ܡ‬焏‫ ܒܟܣܝ‬焏‫ܗܝ ܢܟܠ‬熏̈‫ܪܐ ܕܒܢ‬犏‫)ܝ‬. Note plot in secret’ (Narsai, On Joseph 210: ‫ܗܘܐ‬ the more vivid vocabulary. On this phenomenon in Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah (Text 11), see Brock, ‘Dinah’, 232 n. 24. Balai, On Joseph i.259–292 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 12–13). Balai, On Joseph i.293–300 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 13).

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This development seems to build from the Syriac History of Joseph, which also has the brothers complain directly to Jacob about the impropriety of Joseph’s second dream.34 Once again, Jacob sees the anger of the brothers; however, in this case he rebukes Joseph alone, all the while believing the dreams privately.35 Joseph Son of Jacob follows the Syriac History, though Jacob’s rebuke is significantly modified. The setting is once again a private conversation with Joseph (though not sufficiently private to stop the brothers hearing about it).36 Joseph Son of Jacob incorporates the Syriac History’s warning to Joseph and Jacob’s private beliefs about dreams into an admonition. Jacob warns Joseph to not talk about the dreams ‘lest your brothers become angry and kill you’. This is followed by Jacob’s declaration that it is ‘the will of the God of all’ to make him a king.37 What is common to each of these three cases, however, is Jacob’s clear awareness of the brothers’ severe anger towards Joseph. The Syriac History goes further by imputing to Jacob not only an awareness of how the brothers feel about Joseph, but also a suspicion of their fiendish plot to kill him.38 This presents a problem to the narrator, however, who, though having successfully dealt with the question of how much Jacob knew, is still left with the necessity of getting Joseph out to the flocks alone with the brothers. The way the Syriac History and Joseph Son of Jacob resolve this dilemma is to have Jacob first send the brothers out to the flocks because he is concerned about their feelings towards Joseph. Though this effectively gets the brothers out to the flocks, it has only really deferred the problem of getting Joseph there too. This is met by an inexplicable delay on the part of the brothers, which makes Jacob sufficiently overcome with worry to be willing to send Joseph out to find out what has happened. A neater solution, and one that further vilifies the brothers, is found in Balai. The brothers’ plot has but one objective—to get Joseph away from the homestead alone. ‘Here it is difficult for us to take charge’, they say, ‘because (Joseph) stays close to his father’.39 In order to achieve this goal, they realize that they must first convince Jacob that they have made peace with Joseph’s dreams, and then leave for the flocks. They determine to ‘let peace cover (their)

34 35 36 37 38 39

Although following the Peshitta in having Jacob hear the dream at the same time as Joseph. Syriac History of Joseph 3.2–4. Joseph Son of Jacob i.29 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 523). Joseph Son of Jacob i.25–28 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 522–523). Syriac History of Joseph 3.1, 5. Balai, On Joseph i.403–404 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 17).

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utterances and […] hide the anger in [their] hearts’.40 They seem to know that if Jacob has no suspicions he will be sure to send Joseph out to them.41 As they depart to the flocks they cement this idea by casually suggesting to Jacob that if they happen to be away for a long time, he should send Joseph out to let them know of his welfare.42 The plan works. Jacob believes them, hearing their words ‘according to his righteousness’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ܢ‬焏‫)ܟ‬, a statement no doubt made to fully vindicate Jacob in being so expertly duped.43 Unlike the brothers, Joseph and Jacob are innocent and good and expect the good. It is quite possible that the inspiration for the brothers’ plan to trick their father into sending Joseph out to them was inspired by the deceit effected by the brothers with the bloodied coat at the end of Genesis 37. However, Balai has shown himself able to draw explicitly and implicitly upon Joseph’s broader family history while construing the Joseph narrative, and so may also have been inspired by the several examples of deceit enacted by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The interesting way that these episodes are invoked in Joseph Son of Jacob, which I discuss below, suggests that not all writers in the early Syriac tradition were simply content to write out the more problematic passages. The theme of deception continues in Balai when the brothers carefully plan how to best convince Jacob of the death of Joseph. With a certain wantonness they promise Reuben, who has concerns that ‘craftiness will not fail the cunning craftsman. [Thus] let us conceal our wicked deed and embellish [it] with deceit to lead the innocent ones astray’.44 Balai brilliantly depicts the brothers’ careful preparations for the scene with Jacob. They drive the flock back to where their father dwells,45 and the news spreads immediately that the brothers have returned.46 Jacob, heartbroken, is buoyed up by the news;47 Leah rejoices at the news that her eldest son had returned with her beloved ones;48 and Zilpah and Bilhah rejoice with Benjamin that they have returned.49 The brothers then lay out their plan to convince Jacob that they too are mourn-

40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

48 49

Balai, On Joseph i.395–396 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 17). Balai, On Joseph i.397–398 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 17). Balai, On Joseph i.415–416 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 18). Balai, On Joseph i.421–422 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 18). Balai, On Joseph ii.57–60 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 51). Balai, On Joseph ii.85–88 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 52). Balai, On Joseph ii.89–90 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 52). Balai, On Joseph ii.91–92 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 52). See also, Balai, On Joseph ii.129– 134 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 54), where Jacob, calling his dear ones, tells them how their joyful return brings him relief and consolation. Balai, On Joseph ii.93–94 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 52). Balai, On Joseph ii.95–96 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 52).

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ing for the loss of Joseph, and while weeping, with heads covered, they carry the coat in to their father.50 They identify several key elements in their appearance and manner which they believe will ensure success: they must not look happy,51 but instead feign the appearance of people carrying in a dead body;52 they should sigh;53 they should completely cover their bodies;54 they should look dusty and dirty;55 and they should weep.56 Then follows a series of long speeches in which the brothers explain how terrible it was for them to find the coat and bring it to their father.57 The brothers employ several devices in their attempt to fool their father. They acknowledge his latent suspicions,58 ensuring him that far from accusing them, when they have finished relating their tale, he will feel sorry for them.59 They go on to describe their visceral and extreme reaction to finding Joseph’s bloodied coat while shepherding in the mountains and hill.60 The descriptions are tremendous, filled with shaking bodies and quaking backs, and terrible storms erupting in the desert, complete with crashing waves. This is all before they have even picked up the garment! When they do, of course, they describe their reaction in increasingly extravagant terms. When they finally decide to bring the coat back to their father, they describe its enormous weight as ‘like a mountain’61 that cut into their flesh as they carried it.62 A nice, though bitter touch, is the brothers’ repeated acknowledgement that they knew they themselves were preserved in the wilderness by the prayers of their father Jacob. They talk about how they remembered his prayers when they first approached the terrible garment,63 and how they knew that it was only ‘by [Jacob’s] prayers

50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57

58 59 60 61 62 63

Balai, On Joseph ii.99–116 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 53). Balai, On Joseph ii.99 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 53). Balai, On Joseph ii.99–102 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 53). Balai, On Joseph ii.103 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 53). Balai, On Joseph ii.104 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 53). Balai, On Joseph ii.105–106 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 53). Balai, On Joseph ii.112 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 53). Balai, On Joseph ii.149–298 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 54–59). In Syriac History of Joseph, the brothers go so far as to lay the blame upon him for sending Joseph out into the wilderness in the first place. Joseph Son of Jacob is more direct, observing simply that the brothers are ‘full of deceit’ (焏‫ ܙܐܦ‬營̈‫ ;ܡܠܝ‬i.75, 97). Balai, On Joseph ii.149–160 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 54–55). Balai, On Joseph ii.161 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 55). Balai, On Joseph ii.162–190 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 55). Balai, On Joseph ii.272 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 58). Balai, On Joseph ii.274 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 58). Balai, On Joseph ii.191 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 55).

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that [they] were saved from the wild beasts that surrounded [them]’.64 Despite these efforts Jacob is still suspicious.65 Both Balai and Joseph Son of Jacob introduce the motif of suspicion at this point, but each work out the motif in quite different ways. In both accounts Jacob first calls for the garment to examine it,66 but here the stories diverge. In Balai, Jacob is confident that he can identify the coat, because it will carry the scent of Rachel. He holds it up to his face, suggesting that he is losing his sight like his own father (Gen. 27:1), and has no doubt that it is Joseph’s coat.67 Jacob then embarks on a long and meditative lament,68 which leaves the brothers disturbed and bemused. For during the course of the lament, Jacob starts to think about the coat, and in doing so not only exposes the illogicality of it as a convincing piece of evidence,69 but also deduces a more coherent explanation for the state of the coat.70 Jacob does not actually go so far as to accuse the brothers, but they are ‘condemned in their minds’ by his words.71 Balai is the only author who fully extrapolates the examination of the garment motif from the scene in which Joseph is tried before Potiphar (see chapter 8 below) and applies it to this scene. He not only has Jacob examine the garment, as does Potiphar, but they both also deduce the problems inherent in the accusation from the state of the garment. In doing so, the author further demonstrates his great ability to think into a text and see its logical gaps, flaws, and inconsistencies, and to engage with these in his narrative. Joseph Son of Jacob rely instead on another piece of traditional material. Jacob again asks for the garment, but here particularly so that he might ‘smell its odour and see whether it is belongs to Joseph’;72 suggesting once again that he has already started to lose his eyesight (Gen. 27:27). He immediately identifies the coat as Joseph’s, but then goes further in his forensic examination to specifically identify the blood as not being from a human. Whether by a 64 65

66 67 68 69 70 71 72

Balai, On Joseph ii.253–254 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 58). It seems likely that the idea that Jacob was suspicious of the actual cause of Joseph’s disappearance may have been planted in the authors’ minds by Gen. 42:4, where Jacob refuses to send Benjamin down to Egypt with the brothers lest, as he says, an accident (焏‫ܪܣ‬焏‫)ܩ‬ happens to him. On Jacob’s suspicions in the Syriac and other traditions see Phenix, ‘Witness to the Transmission History’, 12–17. Balai, On Joseph ii.303–304 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 59); Joseph Son of Jacob i.191 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 530). Balai, On Joseph ii.308–314 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 59). Balai, On Joseph ii.315–424 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 59–63). Balai, On Joseph ii.347–380 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 61–62). Balai, On Joseph ii.407–424 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 63). Balai, On Joseph ii.429 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 63). Joseph Son of Jacob i.192 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 530).

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superhuman sense of smell, or some other means, Jacob is able to discern the ‘great distinction’ between the blood of a man and the blood of an animal.73 He bases his argument on a traditional interpretation of Gen. 4:9–10: ‘The blood of man (contains) the spirit that was breathed from God. When the Lord spoke to Cain who killed his brother, he did not say to him, “The soul of your brother cries out before me”, rather, “His blood cries out before me from within the earth”’.74 Again, this new knowledge does not result in any further action, and in Joseph Son of Jacob, it marks the end of a scene that continues on much further in the other sources. What it contributes to the narrative is a sense that Jacob cannot be so easily fooled by his sons, as well as an additional reason for Jacob to be suspicious about sending Benjamin down to Egypt with his brothers.

Brutality, or a Portrait of the Capture and Sale of Joseph (Gen. 37:17–28a) Each of the sources vividly portrays the brutal treatment of Joseph in the wilderness. The first image is one of a gang attack, of Joseph being greatly outnumbered by his older and stronger brothers.75 However, there is a slight variation in the specific agents of this brutality. The Syriac History of Joseph, for example, establishes a slightly different set of roles for the brothers than does the Peshitta. The new roles are assigned according to lineage, a distinction that is established by the author at the very beginning of the narrative by recounting the composition of Jacob’s family (based on Gen. 35:22–26). The audience is reminded by the Syriac History’s opening paragraph that though Jacob was father to twelve sons, these sons came from both wives and handmaidens. This may be construed as an innocuous introduction of the characters, were it not for the repeated efforts of the author to differentiate between the sons of the handmaidens, and the sons of Rachel and Leah. 73 74

75

Joseph Son of Jacob i.196–198 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 530). Joseph Son of Jacob i.199–202 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 530–531). There are direct parallels in the memra on Cain and Abel attributed to Isaac in Vat. Syr. 120, where this motif is explored more fully. The relevant passages are summarized in Glenthøj, Cain and Abel, 172. Skinner suggests that there is an implicit reference to Gen. 4:11 in Reuben’s counsel not to shed Joseph’s blood in Gen. 37:22 (Genesis, 447). Note how in Balai, Joseph specifically raises the fact that they are ganging up on him ten against one (Balai, On Joseph i.687 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 28]), and further emphasizes that two of them were responsible for laying waste to whole cities (Balai, On Joseph i.688 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 28]; with reference to Gen. 34).

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After the opening scenes (Gen. 37:3–12) in which the brothers are treated corporately, the sons of the handmaidens are specifically designated seven times. In each case they take a thoroughly negative stance towards Joseph, and also instigate action against him. It is the sons of the handmaidens who see Joseph coming in the wilderness and plot to kill him;76 who attack Joseph and strip off his cloak and throw him into the cistern and then stand around the top mocking him.77 On the other hand, the sons of Leah are mentioned in a very positive light. Reuben and Judah are both dedicated to saving Joseph, and when the sons of the handmaidens suggest that Joseph be sold, Judah only agrees because he sees this as a sure way to get Joseph out of their hands, and ultimately rescue him.78 Likewise, later in the narrative Simeon is taken prisoner by Joseph because ‘there was none among the brothers whom Joseph loved like Simeon’.79 Perhaps the origin of this dichotomy may be found in Gen. 37:2, a verse not specifically treated in the Syriac History. Though the verse opens by positioning Joseph shepherding the flocks with the brothers as a whole, it then specifies that ‘he grew up’ (‫ ܗܘܐ‬焏‫)ܪ̇ܒ‬80 with the sons of the handmaids and that he reported their evil doings to his father. One could go on to assume that the brothers referred to in Gen. 37:4 were still the sons of the handmaidens, and it was they alone, and not all the brothers who hated Joseph. Unfortunately, the Syriac History does not specifically confirm this thesis.81 Nor do the later sources maintain the strict boundaries established by the Syriac History. Joseph Son of Jacob, for example, makes Simeon an advocate for Joseph’s murder,82 and Judah is not specifically said to be acting out of any desire to save Joseph,83 but seems to want to get rid of him without getting his hands dirty.84 In Balai, Joseph tries to press these familial ties and differenti76 77 78

79 80 81 82

83 84

Syriac History of Joseph 5.2. Syriac History of Joseph 6.4. Syriac History of Joseph 8.10–12; with reference to Gen. 37:26–27. See Rodrigues Pereira, ‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’, 101, for other Jewish and Christian sources that speak positively about Judah’s role in this episode. Syriac History of Joseph 32.6. Against mt, which states that Joseph was an assistant (‫ ) ַנַﬠר‬with the sons of the handmaidens. To support this rendering of ‫ ַנַﬠר‬, Speiser cites Ex. 33:11 (Genesis, 284). Reference is made generically to Joseph’s ‘brothers’ in the retelling of Gen. 37:2–12. Joseph Son of Jacob i.95–96 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 526). Also note Simeon’s heartless response to the pleading Joseph ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.167–169 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 529]). Joseph Son of Jacob i.97–102 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 526). Rodrigues Pereira (‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’, 101) discusses the portrayal of Judah in Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah, contrasting it with the portrayal in Joseph Son of Jacob. I

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ate between the sons of the free women and the handmaidens.85 He attempts to take refuge with Levi, Simeon, and Judah,86 but this only forces the sons of Zilpah to act as a group in order to persuade them to go through with the plan.87 This they do, taking Judah’s counsel, that is given in order to save Joseph from dying in the pit.88 In Narsai, however, even Reuben is fully complicit in the attack upon Joseph and his subsequent sale.89 That Narsai specifically states that he is joined by both Judah and Simeon in this task leaves no doubt about how Narsai stands vis-à-vis the tradition.90 Narsai’s language also evokes the brutal and sudden nature of the attacks. Judah shouts at Joseph,91 Simeon pushes him away, and then Reuben throws him down. Judah elsewhere is said to run to kill Joseph,92 so they are all pitiless in their pursuit.93 This is rather a rare description in the sources, which, as one would expect from the genre, tells more about what the brothers say and think than about the way they act. The exception to this is Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah, which gives the most vivid description of Joseph being attacked by the gang of brothers. The description is set in the context of Joseph’s narration to his father and sister of the events that led to his coming to Egypt. When Joseph arrives at the camp, he sees the brothers coming towards him with swords in hand. Naphtali goes to strike him, but is restrained by Reuben, though he is quickly followed by Gad, who tries to grab him but is similarly restrained.94 He rushes to Levi for refuge but is pushed away.95 He turns to Simeon and is struck by his sword.96 Reuben rushes in to shield Joseph, shouting threats of death to anyone who kills him.97 Reuben removes his cloak, grabs

85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97

think he tries to make too much of Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah’s lack of specificity with respect to Judah’s actions. Those authors who wish to vindicate Judah tend to do so very clearly, as Joseph Son of Jacob does in fact do in the second memra (ii.264–265 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 571]). Balai, On Joseph i.661–664 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 27). Balai, On Joseph i.681–688 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 27–28). Balai, On Joseph i.689 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 28). Balai, On Joseph i.821–826 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 33–34). Narsai, On Joseph 268, 313. Narsai, On Joseph 313. See Rodrigues Pereira, ‘Two Syriac Verse Homilies’, 107 n. 19, where he argues that in Jewish sources it was Simeon who was famous for his mighty voice. Narsai, On Joseph 267. Narsai, On Joseph 292. Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah 41–42. Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah 48–49. Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah 50. Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah 51–52. See Syriac History of Joseph 5.6, where it is Judah who threatens death to any of the brothers who touch Joseph.

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his sword, and shouts to Judah for assistance, to no avail.98 All the brothers then rush forward and surround Reuben and Joseph, threatening Joseph with their swords.99 Reuben makes them swear not to kill him, but to put him in the pit instead, and then he turns aside, covering his face.100 Joseph is dragged off by the brothers who are ‘like dogs’, ripping off his clothes, and then they throw him into the pit.101 In a second version of this episode, Joseph describes how he was trapped by the brothers who had hidden and then ran out to catch him from every direction, pushing and beating and kicking him until he was down.102 The portrayal of the brutality of the brothers as a group is extended further in Joseph Son of Jacob by overlaying it with the image of the brothers as rob̈ bers or brigands (焏‫)ܓܝܣ‬.103 There seems to be at least two levels in which this image would function in the mind of a late antique Syriac author. Firstly, the image of the bandit functioned as a trope, used as a label to further vilify such established malefactors as Cain and Judas.104 Thus, to label the brothers as bandits is to include them among this group.105 In fact, it seems to be the case, as Thomas Grünewald has argued, that this metaphorical usage accounts for by far the majority of cases of those labelled as bandits in late antique sources.106 The second level is the evocation of actual bandits. The fact that the image is evoked in Joseph Son of Jacob with respect to the merchants traveling down to Egypt suggests that this latter usage would actually have been the primary one.107

98 99 100 101

102 103 104 105

106

107

Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah 59–60. Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah 61–62. Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah 63–88. Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah 86–87, 89–95. This scene is followed by a long interjection by Dinah in which she reports Joseph telling her how fast a runner he was, and wonders how he could not escape ( Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah 129–147; Brock, ‘Dinah’, 226–227). Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah 153–178. Ramsey Macmullen surveys the classical and patristic sources in a useful appendix on brigandage in Enemies of the Roman Order. See Hymns on the Church xi.7, where Cain and Judas are called robbers (焏‫)ܓܢ̈ܒ‬. Note how the brothers are called thieves by Joseph’s steward, when he goes to fetch back the cup (Syriac History of Joseph 40.2); and thereafter are accused of being such by Joseph (Syriac History of Joseph 42.4). Specifically, in Greek and Latin sources (Grünewald, Bandits in the Roman Empire, 2). Narsai frequently uses the term metaphorically, e.g., N 76.1: ‘Sin and death fell upon Adam like brigands’. Perhaps Narsai is drawing on this motif when he has Jacob ask in response to Joseph’s disappearance, ‘Perhaps a brigand (焏‫ )ܓܝܣ‬separated my darling from the house of his father, but I have not heard that a brigand came to this country’ (Narsai, On Joseph 351– 352).

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As the brothers sit down at the head of the cistern to eat bread, merchants appear on the horizon.108 It is here that the episode is successfully dramatized ̈ by the addition of the description of the brothers as ‘brigands’ (焏‫)ܓܝܣ‬. Not only are the brothers perceived as being brigands by the merchants,109 they are further presented as going out towards the merchants ‘like brigands’ (燿‫ܐܝ‬ 焏‫)ܓܝ̈ܣ‬.110 It is on the way out to meet the merchants that Judah again suggests selling Joseph, and whatever their original intentions were, these are now subordinated to the new plan to sell Joseph to the merchants. It is at this point that the brothers fetch Joseph from the pit. By this sequence of events, the brothers ̈ are characterized as ‘brigands’ (焏‫ )ܓܝܣ‬rather than simply appearing to be so. The sale of Joseph is presented as a tense situation. Capitalizing on their roguish appearance and the merchants’ obvious fear, the brothers tell the merchants that they may go in peace once (the implication seems to be ‘and only once’) they have paid the stated price for Joseph. The merchants are suspicious and question Joseph about his status, but despite Joseph’s ambiguous answer they pay the price and go on their way. The scene nicely expands the Peshitta narrative and seems to respond directly to the question of why the merchants were willing to buy Joseph, who was obviously not a slave, in the first place. Though the merchants’ fear at meeting the bandits seems to have been allayed slightly by their overpowering business instinct, which gives the scene great dramatic potential, the whole episode must have been compelling for anyone who knew or worked among contemporary business and private travellers. Brigandage was a common problem for travellers in late antique Egypt, for example,111 and this contemporary edge must have served to make this scene more vivid and the characterization of the brothers even more effective.112 Several authors also use wild animal imagery to further evoke the vicious brutality of the brothers. This motif seems to begin with the Syriac History, where the brothers are described as falling ‘upon [Joseph] like wild animals ̈ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ ’)ܚܝ‬when he first arrives at their camp.113 Joseph Son of Jacob nicely anticipates the motif when he describes the brothers as ‘gnawing’ on Joseph before they are sent out to the flocks (煿‫ ܠ‬爯‫ܝ‬狏‫)ܡܢܟ‬.114 He continues on with the 108 109 110 111 112 113

114

Joseph Son of Jacob i.127–128 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 527). Joseph Son of Jacob i.136 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 527). Joseph Son of Jacob i.134 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 527). Adams, ‘Getting Around in Roman Egypt’, 154. This motif does not appear in any of the other sources. Syriac History of Joseph 6.2. There is a nice irony here since it is carnivorous animals that the brothers blame for the death of Joseph when they bring his bloodied coat to their father (Syriac History of Joseph 11.4; with reference to Gen. 37:33). Joseph Son of Jacob i.31 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 523).

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metaphor when describing the brothers’ attack, specifying the wild beasts as ̈ ‫)ܕ‬, who seize and gnaw upon Joseph.115 Narsai seems to be drawwolves (焏‫ܐܒ‬ ing on this tradition when he refers to the brothers as ravenous, or vicious ones (焏‫)ܣܪܘܚ‬,116 an adjective often used specifically in connection with wild animals.117 Akin to this animal imagery is the use of hunting and combat imagery to describe the brothers’ attack. Narsai specifies the ‘harsh’ treatment that Joseph received at the hands of the brothers by observing that they ‘hunted him down without pity and brought him to the merchants’.118 Once captured, Joseph is chained in irons or otherwise bound.119 Of course, the first thought of the brothers was of murder. They not only sharpened the ‘swords of their mind to kill him’,120 but in fact ‘ran and drew a sword’ to do so.121 Balai’s weapons are, on the other hand, all in the mind. The brothers pull back the ‘arrows of their hatred’ and ‘envy’122 upon bows of ‘envy’ and ‘deceitful evil’.123 These are, of course, the tricky arrows mentioned at the very opening of this work, which have a tendency to return, boomerang-like, upon the ones who shoot them.124 The final category of brutality that deserves attention may be termed psychological. Under this heading I group physical and verbal abuse, blame, mockery, and intimidation. Narsai shows no interest in imagining such things, but for each of the three preceding authors, this is an integral part of conveying the brothers’ brutal characters. In the Syriac History the brothers use mockery and intimidation to try and break Joseph’s spirit. The setting is the cistern into which Joseph has been thrown naked. The brothers stand at the mouth of the pit laughing, and then start to taunt him with his dreams, saying first, ‘We bow down to you, my lord king’.125 They quickly turn from mock worship to a scornful assessment of Joseph’s dreams: ‘Where now are those sheaves that bowed

115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125

Joseph Son of Jacob i.63, 117 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 524, 527). Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres uses ‫ܦ‬狏‫ ܢ‬in the Pa. instead of Joseph Son of Jacob’s 狏‫( ܢܟ‬also in Pa.). Narsai, On Joseph 278, 281. ̈ E.g., Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 181 [91]: ‘ravenous wild beasts’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ܚܝ‬ ‫ܐ‬狏‫)ܣܪܘܚ‬. Narsai, On Joseph 292. Balai, On Joseph i.915, 1038–1039 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 37, 42); Narsai, On Joseph 316. Narsai, On Joseph 232. Narsai, On Joseph 267. Balai, On Joseph i.599, 607 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 25). Balai, On Joseph i.603–604 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 25). Balai, On Joseph i.1–8 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 1–2). Syriac History of Joseph 6.4.

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down to your sheaf? Where are the sun and the moon and the eleven stars that bowed down to you? For behold, you have been thrust down into the pit by the sheaves and the luminaries’.126 Interestingly, the Syriac History twice uses the verb ‘to mock’ (‫ܚ‬熟‫ )ܒ‬to describe the brothers’ actions here, which is precisely the same verb used to describe the mocking of Jesus by the soldiers, chief priests, scribes and elders at his crucifixion (Matt. 27:29, 31, 41; see also Matt. 20:21).127 The setting, the subject, and the language of the brothers’ mockery certainly suggest that the Passion Narrative was the source of inspiration for this scene.128 That the brothers also intimidated Joseph is suggested by the fact that they stripped him naked before throwing him in the cistern.129 Joseph Son of Jacob refers frequently to the fact that Joseph was naked when he was sold,130 putting the emphasis on how unusual this was, and thus unusually cruel. Balai alone attempts to work out some of the psychological implications.131 The passage turns on Joseph’s modesty132 and his desire to have some kind of covering, even a small rag (‫ܪܐ‬熏‫ ܙܥ‬焏‫ܩ‬犯‫ ܦ‬煟‫)ܚ‬,133 to cover ‘the shame of Adam’ (營‫ܪܣ‬熏‫ܦ‬ ‫)ܐܕܡ‬.134 The brothers protest that he has no need to be ashamed because it is dark in the cistern, and anyway, there is no one around ‘to be offended at your nakedness’.135 Joseph’s response is interesting. He states that it is rather by the brothers that he does not wish to be seen naked, though not because of any shame that they might feel, but because ‘the image of Jacob is represented in [them]’.136 At the end of this scene the pathos in the Peshitta’s matter-of-fact statement that the brothers sat down to eat bread after throwing Joseph into the cistern (Gen. 37:25) is brought to the fore by the observation that Joseph

126 127 128

129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136

Syriac History of Joseph 6.4. He also uses ‫ܩ‬熏‫ܡ‬, also in the Pael participle, which is used in Luke’s passion narrative (Luke 23:35). The scene is also incorporated in Joseph Son of Jacob i.113–116 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 526–527), prefaced by the statement that the brothers were ‘cruelly mocking him’ (狏‫ܐܝ‬犯‫ܝ‬犯‫ ܡ‬煿‫ ܒ‬爯‫ܚܝ‬熟‫)ܡܒ‬. See also Balai, On Joseph i.720–726 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 29–30). Syriac History of Joseph 6.2. The Peshitta states only that the brothers stripped off his longsleeved coat (‫ܐ‬狏‫̈ܝ‬煟‫ ܕܦ‬焏‫ܬܝܢ‬熏‫ ;ܟ‬Gen. 37:23). Joseph Son of Jacob i.375 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 539); ii.260, 787, 919 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 571, 596, 602). Balai, On Joseph i.727–746 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 30). Balai, On Joseph i.735 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 30). Balai, On Joseph i.743 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 30). Balai, On Joseph i.734 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 30). Balai, On Joseph i.740 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 30). Balai, On Joseph i.742 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 30).

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began weeping, and they sat down in enjoyment regardless—they were drunk with wine and he with tears.137 Evidence of intimidation is found in the Syriac History in the statement that Joseph was ‘too afraid of his brothers’ to tell the merchants he was a free man.138 Balai expands on the motif, providing the threatening words of the brothers: ‘ “Confess by your mouth that you are a slave”, he was ordered by them in the cistern. “And don’t you dare reveal that you are a free man. [If you do] your freedom will vanish away in a cistern”’.139 They continue the threats as Joseph departs with the merchants, saying that things will only get worse if he claims he is not a slave.140 The threat here is not simply against Joseph, but also against the merchants, for the brothers argue that if people start to hear that these merchants have kidnapped a freeman into slavery they would be murdered for the crime.141 The brothers are clearly calculating and compassionless.142 In Joseph Son of Jacob Joseph finally comes to the same conclusion after having pleaded with the brothers by every means possible.143 ‘Joseph saw that his brothers had no compassion (焏‫’)ܪܚܡ‬,144 and so gives up pleading and simply bids them farewell.145 Balai has his Joseph marvel at the lack of compassion in his brothers, employing a striking image to convey the unusual intensity of their enmity. Unlike his brothers, who endured Joseph’s tears without feeling any mercy, Joseph observes that people even feel sorry for a murderer when they see him weep.146

137

138 139 140 141 142 143

144 145

146

Balai, On Joseph i.747–750 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 30–31). Drawing on Syriac History of Joseph perhaps, which states that the brothers were laughing and rejoicing after throwing Joseph into the pit (Syriac History of Joseph 6.3). Syriac History of Joseph 8.15. This addition nicely resolves the question of why Joseph did not simply speak up during the sale. Balai, On Joseph i.857–860 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 35). Balai, On Joseph i.1145–1156 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 46). By expanding the motif in this way, Balai can respond to the question of why Joseph did not tell the truth to the merchants once they were clear of the brothers. Doubtless the authors were inspired in their portrayal of the lack of compassion shown to Joseph during his capture and sale by the brothers’ confession in Gen. 42:21. Examples of Joseph’s extended pleading are found in Joseph Son of Jacob i.77–84, 157– 166 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 525, 528–529); Balai, On Joseph i.670–688 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 27–28); Narsai, On Joseph 299–312. Joseph Son of Jacob i.169 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 529). Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah 92 also observes that the brothers had no mercy. See Narsai, On Joseph 317, where Joseph simply concludes that there are no more words to be said to the brothers on behalf of his cause. Balai, On Joseph i.1023–1036 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 41).

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The brothers further demonstrate their heartless contempt for Joseph in several extended speeches both directed to him and about him. In Joseph Son of Jacob, as soon as Joseph arrives at his brothers’ camp, they grab him and proceed to articulate further reasons for their enmity. The form of the speech is a comparison series that juxtaposes in five couplets the good life that Joseph has been living with the miserable conditions inflicted on the brothers. Thus, while Joseph sleeps indoors on carpets, being served, and refreshing himself with good food and drink, the brothers roam the desert, sleeping outdoors on the ground, in both the cold of winter and the heat of summer, plagued all the while by hunger and thirst.147 In a speech in Balai, the brothers make clever use of the Bible to justify their selling Joseph into slavery. Since Joseph dishonoured both his father and his brothers by subjecting them to slavery in his dreams, they are justified in condemning him to slavery, just as the ‘righteous Noah’ became angry and cursed his son who dishonoured him: ‘Jacob, whom you have made a slave, Will deal with you as Noah did’.148 They go on elsewhere to malign him to the merchants, calling him a proud, arrogant and contemptible,149 and warning them to be cautious with him, because he will steal their money and run away.150 Finally, the brothers are shown to not even be reticent about disturbing their father’s mental state.151 In the Syriac History, when the brothers return with the coat, they do not simply plead ignorance as in the Genesis narrative, but rather they try to convince Jacob that he is actually to blame for his son’s death: ‘You, by your own hands you have killed our brother Joseph. Did you indeed not know that there are wild animals that maul people in the wilderness? And because of this fact we were not able to come and fetch food for ourselves these 147 148

149 150

151

Joseph Son of Jacob i.65–74 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 524–525). Balai, On Joseph i.1071–1072 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 43). The irony, which was doubtless not lost on the authors, is that Noah cursed his son for seeing his nakedness (Gen. 9:20– 24), and it is the brothers who are in this episode seeing Joseph naked, and thus it is they who deserve the similar punishment and not Joseph. Balai, On Joseph i.929–940 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 37–38). Balai, On Joseph i.981–984 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 39–40). Perhaps this latter image picks up on the Syriac History, where Judah presents Joseph to the merchants as a slave who always ‘leaves the flocks and runs away from us’ (Syriac History of Joseph 8.7). Also see Narsai, who has the brothers praise Joseph to the merchants in order to see him: ‘If you wish, we have a slave to sell to you. A young boy of beautiful appearance who is very desirable, who is clever and knows how to minister to livestock and humans. We will bring him and you shall see him’ (Narsai, On Joseph 282–285). Skinner notes the ‘heartless cruelty’ with which ‘they pretend that Joseph must have been devoured by a wild beast’ (Genesis, 442).

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forty days. But you sent a child out by himself into the ravaging wilderness! Yesterday, when we were passing through the wilderness of Dothan we found the coat splattered with blood and cast aside in the wilderness, and his body was eaten by wild animals’.152 The scene is no less brutal in Balai for the lack of this expansion, due to the fact that the author makes the act of presenting the coat part of a carefully staged performance as mentioned above.153

Conclusions It seems clear that early Syriac authors in general, and these authors in particular, understood that there were certain risks to providing an elaborate portrayal of wickedness. It was necessary at times to clearly designate that the actions that are being described are deplorable. For example, the author of the Martyrdom of Tarbo, Her Sister, and Her Servant asks, after describing how these three women were stripped and butchered, ‘Who got any joy out of this lugubrious spectacle? Who could look on with dry eyes? Who could steel himself to turn around and look upon them?’ After which the author boldly asserts, ‘If any such person exists, his nature is not the same as our nature, and he cannot belong to the race of Adam’.154 Such texts are holding a mirror up to the reader and exposing their nature. The authors of the Syriac Joseph texts make effective use of epithets in this regard. These epithets help steer the reader towards a correct interpretation of the characters and actions being portrayed in a particular scene. In other cases, the sources simply stop and comment on the scene just described. Thus, these authors are constantly pulling the audience towards an ideal while simultaneously pushing them away from its opposite. Showing the depths to which humanity is capable is held in tension with the extremes of goodness to which humanity is capable of aspiring. There is also a darker heart beating in these violent and envious characters. By attending closely to the language of the sources the tight connection between the imagined brutality that Joseph suffered and that was suffered by Jesus becomes clear. These rhetorical connections are further implications of the fact that Joseph is construed fundamentally as a type of Christ, as I argued

152 153 154

Syriac History of Joseph 11.2–4. Balai draws on this motif (On Joseph ii.163–164 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 55]), but greatly extends the scene to emphasize the brothers’ duplicity. As mentioned above, Joseph Son of Jacob subtly modifies the whole tone of the scene by introducing the element of doubt on the part of Jacob. Brock and Harvey, Holy Women, 76.

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in chapter 2. The New Testament portrayal of the Jews and Judas thus became the mirror in which the brothers of Joseph appear most clearly. These important intertexts inform the generative imagination, with an expected amount of reverberation heightening the rhetoric. The New Testament establishes the aesthetic of violence realized in the dramatic portraits of brutality in Genesis 37.155 155

I take the idea of an aesthetic of violence from Zimmermann, ‘Violence in Late Antiquity Reconsidered’, 344.

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Mother, Merchants, and the Market Place (Gen. 37:29–36) In this section, I examine the substantial narrative expansions that imaginatively explore the succinctly narrated time between the sale of Joseph by his brothers and his purchase by Potiphar. Shortly after beginning the journey down to Egypt, the merchants’ caravan passes the grave of Joseph’s mother Rachel. Joseph stops—as will I. For like him, I cannot pass by this unique scene without further exploring both it and the broader function of the figure of Rachel in these texts. The merchants also provide the first opportunity for the sources to elaborate on how Joseph was perceived outside of his family circle. Though the trajectories may be somewhat predictable, the way this relationship is explored is a further witness to the imaginative capacities of these authors. At the end of this chapter, I will go with Joseph to the marketplace. The sources picture this scene from several different points of view (the merchants, Joseph, Potiphar), and it will be my task to examine the scene from each of these in turn.1

Mother The Syriac History of Joseph treats the journey to Egypt and the sale of Joseph to Potiphar almost as summarily as the Peshitta.2 The main contribution of this narrative is the motif of the bill of sale, which is discussed below. Each of the subsequent sources, however, attempt to imagine themselves into this journey, at least in so far as this helps convey Joseph’s character and raises the dramatic impact of the events. A single motif, unique to Joseph Son of Jacob, relates not to the relationship between Joseph and the merchants,

1 Niehoff emphasises the significance of subtle shifts in narrative retellings: ‘It is vital for a proper evaluation of the early exegetes to appreciate whether they adopted the original setting of the Joseph story or whether they changed its focus. Since the narrative is relatively long and diverse there are numerous ways to select the material or to devote large amounts of narrative time to particular aspects of it. Consequently each exegete may be characterized by his attitude towards the original narrative rhythm’ (Niehoff, Figure of Joseph, 22). 2 Syriac History of Joseph 8.20; 14.1.

© Kristian S. Heal, 2023 | doi:10.1163/9789004526969_007

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but with his mother. This episode deserves to be treated separately and occupies my attention in this section.3 There are two references to Joseph’s mother in Joseph Son of Jacob prior to this episode. The first depends on the Peshitta, coming in the context of telling the second dream to Jacob. Joseph is at first rebuked by Jacob, lest, as mentioned above, the brothers ‘become envious and kill him’.4 He then goes on, however, to interpret the dreams by saying, ‘I and your mother and your brothers will come and bow down before you’.5 This is of course a markedly different reaction from that given in the biblical account, inasmuch as it reworks Jacob’s incredulous question as a statement of prophecy (Gen. 37:10).6 The second reference to Rachel occurs as Joseph is in the last throes of pleading with his brothers. His final attempt to arouse their compassion is to beg them to think of their younger brother who would, by their actions, be ‘deprived both of a mother and a brother’.7 The author of Joseph Son of Jacob thus has Rachel in mind when Joseph sets off with the merchants. In this retelling, the narrator imagines that the merchants have not travelled far towards Egypt when the caravan reaches the grave of Joseph’s mother and Joseph petitions them to wait for a few minutes.8 Griefstricken, Joseph falls on his mother’s grave and weeping, he tells his mother that he has become a slave.9 Seeing this, the merchants weep also.10 Joseph then calls out to his Lord and his mother:11 3 4 5 6

7 8

9 10 11

See Phenix, ‘Witness to the Transmission History’, 17–23, for a summary treatment of this motif in Christian, Jewish and Islamic sources. Joseph Son of Jacob i.26 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 522). Joseph Son of Jacob i.28 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 523). Näf has already observed that in construing the Peshitta in this manner the author fails to deal with the problematic issue of Rachel, as the moon, also bowing down before Joseph even though she is deceased (Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 91 n.2). See Commentary on Genesis 38.1, for what Näf calls Ephrem’s ‘künstliche Erklärung’ of this anomaly. Joseph Son of Jacob i.166 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 529). Joseph Son of Jacob i.204–206 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 531); also Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 155–158. Oxford, Ms. Pockocke 404 has a variant to line 207, which contains Joseph’s petition to the merchants to stop at his mother’s grave, and reads as follows in Bedjan’s edition: ‘I have reason to visit (‫ܪ‬熏‫ )ܕܐܣܥ‬here and then we will go on’. The Oxford Ms. (folio 397a, col. i, line 16), reads ‘I will worship here’ (焏‫ܚ ܗܪܟ‬熏‫ )ܐܦܠ‬instead of ‘to visit here’ (‫ܪ‬熏‫)ܕܐܣܥ‬. However, the line could also be construed to mean that Joseph wished to work or minister there at the grave of his mother. Joseph Son of Jacob i.207–210 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 531); also, Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 160–162. Joseph Son of Jacob i.211 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 531); also Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 164. Joseph Son of Jacob i.212 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 531); also Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 165.

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Rise up Rachel from within the tomb and behold Joseph, for behold, he has been sold from freedom into slavery, for twenty pieces of silver my brothers sold me to the Midianites and behold, they are bringing me to be a slave in the land of Egypt. Behold, I am about to be separated from your grave, O blessed mother. Farewell, for behold, I am departing to the place of strangers.12 Joseph’s request is partially effective, because it prompts the ‘hidden Divine Will’ (焏‫ܐ ܟܣܝ‬熟‫ )ܪܡ‬to respond with a voice like his mother.13 In this divine revelation Joseph receives both comfort and instruction: Would that I had legs that I might stand and eyes that I might see you, Then I would go on with you, my beloved son, to the place of strangers. Go in peace and do not be sad because of what happened to you. For the Lord will prepare the way before you according to his will. For everything that shall come to be is from God, And it is he who gives hope and life and salvation for the soul. Let sadness depart from your mind and do not be sorrowful, For your Lord shall also be sold and redeem creation.14 Näf treated this episode briefly in his survey of thirty-three extra-biblical themes in the Joseph texts.15 He notes that Rachel is mentioned by Jacob and Benjamin in other texts, and then proceeds to look for an ancient Jewish haggadic source for the Rachel’s Grave motif. He is, however, unsuccessful, rightly dismissing a later Jewish source that may, in fact, have indirectly had Joseph Son of Jacob for its inspiration! Though Näf was successful in identifying Jewish sources for other motifs in the Syriac Joseph sources, as were some of his predecessors, they are all slightly inhibited by the assumption that any interesting addition to these texts must have a Jewish Vorlage. As I have already stated in the introduction, there seems to be another, more effective way of 12 13 14

15

Joseph Son of Jacob i.213–218 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 531). Joseph Son of Jacob i.219–220 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 531–532). Joseph Son of Jacob i.221–228 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 532). Compare Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 188–201, where it is the voice of peace that responds: ‘O that he had given me light in the midst of mine eyes that I might stand and see that you have been sold into slavery. O that he had given to me, my son, strength to my limbs that I might be strong and might stand. And I would weep for [the loss of] your freedom. Don’t be grieved, and don’t be sad, for your Lord will be sold and redeem creation. And you my beloved son, you will magnify your fathers’. Näf, Syrische Josef-Gedichte, 64–66.

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viewing the Syriac tradition than simply as insipidly derivative. This motif is a case in point, and I think one can convincingly argue that the seed of this motif can be found in the Syriac History of Joseph, and that this seed bore fruit in Joseph Son of Jacob in this particular way, as it did in Balai in another. Rachel is mentioned by name fifteen times in the Syriac History.16 She is mentioned twice in the genealogy in the opening paragraph of the work,17 eleven times by Jacob in the three speeches in which he mourns the loss of Joseph,18 once by Jacob when he first refuses to send Benjamin down to Egypt,19 and one final time by Benjamin when he swears by his mother that he did not steal Joseph’s cup.20 Of particular interest are the concentration of calls to and mentions of Rachel by Jacob in the first of his three lamentations. I mentioned in the previous chapter the brutal duplicity with which the brothers blame their father for the death of Joseph on presenting the coat. This action produces an extreme visceral effect upon Jacob: ‘The light of his eyes grew dim, and the strength of his limbs vanished away’.21 After the initial shock, which rendered Jacob almost paralyzed, he recovers his strength and begins to rave ‘because of grief and distress’. ‘He rent his clothes, and he sprinkled his face and his head with ashes, and he tore at the white hair of his old age. And he collapsed upon the coat of Joseph, and he wept upon it with bitter grief, and he mourned and cried out’.22 What Jacob cried out, or more literally ‘offered up’ (犟‫)ܐܣ‬, were ‘lamentations of grief’ (焏‫ܐ ܕܚܫ‬狏‫ )ܐܘܠ̈ܝ‬concerning Joseph.23 This opening lamentation divides neatly into two parts. The first of these begins with a series of seven cries of ‘woe is me’ (營‫)ܘܝܠ‬, made all the more plaintive by the double repetition of this cry in the opening line. Jacob mourns the loss of Joseph as his son, his beloved, his darling, the light of his eyes, the staff of his old age, the joy of his heart, and the encourager of his soul. He mourns the loss of Joseph’s beauty, fairness and looks, and his good dreams and excellent visions. Jacob then turns his thoughts to Joseph’s mother and thrice proclaims her blessed for not having lived to see the death of Joseph.24 Finally, Jacob

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

See also Balai (43 times), Joseph Son of Jacob (14 times), and Narsai (1 time). Syriac History of Joseph 1.3, 5. Syriac History of Joseph 12.5–15. Syriac History of Joseph 33.14–16. Syriac History of Joseph 43.17. Syriac History of Joseph 12.1. Syriac History of Joseph 12.2–3. Syriac History of Joseph 12.4. Syriac History of Joseph 12.4–5.

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laments his old age, and the fact that he expected to have Joseph close his eyes and prepare him for burial.25 In the second part of the lamentation, Jacob’s attention turns completely to Rachel, and it is this passage that seems the most probable inspiration for the expansion in Joseph Son of Jacob. Since Joseph Son of Jacob declines to follow the Syriac History in this scene, preferring instead to attribute suspicion and canniness to Jacob (as discussed above), the author is free to draw on and be inspired by this episode elsewhere in his narrative, making Joseph rather than Jacob the agent. Two lines in particular closely connect the Syriac History with Joseph Son of Jacob. Jacob calls out to Rachel, ‘Go out into the wilderness, and gather up the limbs of your cherished one’.26 He then repeats and extends the plea: ‘Rachel, Rachel, come, come out from the grave, and lament and cry out over the youth of your beloved’.27 These lines nicely place Rachel in the wilderness, and also create the notion of her coming out of Sheol to lament over Joseph.28 Further to this, in the opening line of the passage on Rachel, Jacob asks those present, ‘Who will go and say to your mother Rachel, “Come, come out from the grave and see (‫ܝ‬熟‫ )ܘܚ‬your son, your firstborn son?” ’29 This specifically places the scene of petition at Rachel’s grave, and more particularly includes the petition for Rachel to come out from the grave in order to see her son. Joseph Son of Jacob not only appears to have taken up Jacob’s question and given the task to Joseph, but also to have taken verbal cues from this line in his formulation of Joseph’s first plea to his mother to ‘rise up from within the tomb and see (‫ܝ‬熟‫)ܘܚ‬ Joseph’.30 The choice of the word ‘rise up’ (營‫ܡ‬熏‫ )ܩ‬rather than the Syriac His-

25 26 27

28

29 30

Syriac History of Joseph 12.6–7. Syriac History of Joseph 12.9. Syriac History of Joseph 12.11. Doubtless the author of the Syriac History would have connected this episode with Jer. 31:15: ‘Thus says the Lord: A voice was heard in Ramtha, wailing and bitter weeping. Rachel weeping for her children, but she will not be comforted, for they are no more’. Certainly, the action of wailing, or lamenting (using the Aph. of 爏‫)ܝܠ‬ binds the two texts together, as does the plaintive nature of Rachel’s actions in both texts. Interestingly, when this motif is adapted by Joseph Son of Jacob, the voice (焏‫ )ܩܠ‬in Jer. 31:15 of an inconsolable Rachel, becomes the voice (焏‫ܬ ܩܠ‬犯‫ )ܒ‬of Rachel heard in the wilderness consoling Joseph as he is taken away. Syriac History of Joseph seems to hold that Rachel has the power of activity while in Sheol, rather than being subject to the sleep of the dead (on which see Gavin, ‘Sleep of the Soul’). This is further implied when, in a subsequent speech, Jacob observes that both the living and the dead mourn for the loss of Joseph, ‘the alive with your father Jacob and the dead with Rachel your mother’ (Syriac History of Joseph 12.20). Syriac History of Joseph 12.2–3. Joseph Son of Jacob i.214 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 531).

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tory’s ‘come out’ (營‫ܩ‬熏‫ )ܦ‬may have been suggested by the New Testament,31 or by a similar usage in Balai.32 These points of connection seem to be sufficient to imply dependency, particularly between two texts where such clear signs of dependency can be found elsewhere. What is significant in this case is the fact that a motif from one part of a narrative is reemployed and reworked in another part of the narrative. Accepting this disturbs a desire for neat lines of development, but in turn makes the texts all the more interesting. Though Rachel is invoked in other texts, this episode with Joseph at the graveside is unique to Joseph Son of Jacob. However, it is interesting to note that the scene was sufficiently influential in the tradition to be later incorporated into a liturgical context. In the fifteenth-century West Syriac Beth Gazza found in Vatican, Syriac 68, this text is included in the night office for the fifth day of the week among prayers attributed to Ephrem and Jacob (f. 38b).33 The episode is mentioned and reworked in a brief résumé of the sale of Joseph. The text reads as follows: ‘Concerning Joseph: In the morning the Midianite merchants came. And they drew the boy Joseph, the son of Rachel, up from the pit, and they weighed out his price. They led him and he went from there to the land of Egypt, and he became a king there. In the morning Joseph was sold, and he went and passed by the grave of his mother,34 and he prayed there to God. And thus he spoke: Lord of the height and the deep,35 be a guide for me in the foreign land’. It should be observed that the passage has been modified to better fit the liturgical setting, and perhaps the contemporary doctrinal and exegetical norms. As Joseph Lienhard notes, ‘The liturgy is always a good test of doctrine’;36 and so the significance of the shifts in the liturgical reworking of this motif should not be overlooked. Most importantly, the passage is recast such that Joseph does not cry out to his mother, but prays instead to God, seeking for his companionship in his trial. Thus, the episode is made to reflect its new liturgical setting, just as the audience is better able to participate with Joseph in the new setting of his prayer.37 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

Mark 5:41; Luke 8:54; Acts 9:40. See Balai, On Joseph x.861 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 308), where Jacob calls upon Rachel to rise up (營‫ܡ‬熏‫ )ܩ‬from the grave and see the glory that had been placed upon Joseph. This manuscript is described in Assemani, Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vaticanae, i.ii, 387– 403. The text reads only 煿‫( ܕܡ‬f. 38v ln. 8). Reading 焏‫ܡܩ‬熏‫ ܕܥ‬for the manuscript’s 焏‫ܕܥܡܟ‬. Lienhard, The Bible, the Church, and Authority, 22. In related, but non-Syriac, sources, there is a version of the motif in Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph (Text 29) that evinces both clear parallels with Joseph Son of Jacob, as well as some

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Merchants The merchants are perhaps the best example of silent characters being given more significant parts in the Syriac retellings.38 In developing the narrative in this manner, the merchants are serving at least two functions: Firstly, they give Joseph and the brothers an additional dialogue partner, and secondly, they help to maintain the dramatic element of the texts. In acting as a dialogue partner to both Joseph and the brothers, they serve as a useful device in the hands of these authors to help shape and enrich opinions about both. In this section I wish to explore precisely this aspect of the merchants. I will look at how they help intensify a sense of the dubious and dangerous nature of the brothers; how in their responses to Joseph they set the tone for the encounter first with Potiphar and then with his wife; and finally how, in their reaction to Joseph’s plight, the reader’s sense of his situation is heightened. In the Syriac History of Joseph, the merchants do not express any concern about the circumstances of Joseph’s sale. They are merchants first and foremost, and so, they are concerned rather to ensure that Joseph is indeed a slave and that they have appropriate proof of purchase. These two elements suggest a more intimate link with this text and the second chapter of the Acts of Thomas than has hitherto been noticed. In his commentary on the Acts of Thomas, Klijn was principally concerned to understand why Thomas was, like Joseph, sold for twenty pieces of silver, rather than thirty, which would have connected him more intimately with the sale of Jesus by Judas.39 He seems more eager to

38

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striking unique elements (273–298). As in the later Syriac liturgical setting of the motif, in Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph, Joseph’s cries elicit no response from Rachel. Joseph simply sees the tomb of his mother and runs over and throws himself upon it and laments. He calls repeatedly upon his mother, asking her to rise up (276), to open her tomb and let him enter in (283), and to listen (289) to his suffering. However, before any response was forthcoming the merchants interject. They are concerned that Joseph is trying to perform some sort of arcane sorcery that would make him invisible and thus able to escape from them (304–306), and so they force him to stop (310–311). At this point Joseph wins the sympathy of the merchants as they see that he has in fact been weeping at the tomb (314–317). They attempt to befriend Joseph and find out the true story behind his sale (320–321), and he in turn explains his true identity and that he is weeping at his mother’s grave (350–367). There are numerous examples of this phenomenon in the sources. For example, Dinah in Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah; the servants in Potiphar’s house in Joseph Son of Jacob and Balai, On Joseph; the Egyptian masses in Balai, On Joseph; Joseph’s steward in Joseph Son of Jacob; and Benjamin in Joseph Son of Jacob. Klijn, Acts of Thomas, 21–22. See Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 240–243, where the giving of the sale price for Joseph, when sold by his brother, is said to be specifically explained by the betrayal price of Jesus. Judas is linked specifically to betrayal in Luke 6:16.

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explore the possibilities of this latter connection,40 and is somewhat reticent to make a connection between this scene and Gen. 37, which is perhaps why he did not search further into the Syriac Joseph texts.41 The formulation of the sale of Joseph in the Syriac History nevertheless strongly suggests that this author at least made the connection between Joseph and Thomas. I would argue that the two new elements in Joseph’s sale are directly influenced by the text of the Acts of Thomas.42 Both give the name of the merchant(s), in both the newly made slave is asked if he is indeed a slave, in both he answers yes, in both the merchants receive a bill of sale from the supposed owner(s), and in both the bill of sale mentions the name(s) of the owner(s), the slave, and the merchant(s). The only difference in content is that the bill of sale in the Syriac History includes the price of the sale. The particular term used for the bill of sale is also the same in the two texts. In both it is ‘a document’ (‫ܐ‬犯‫)ܫܛ‬, though in the Syriac History this is extended to ‘a document of slavery’ (‫ܘܬܐ‬煟‫ ܥܒ‬犯‫)ܫܛ‬.43 This term is not used later in the tradition, however, which further suggests that the borrowing may have been deliberate, rather than reflecting actual contemporary commercial language.44 This bill of sale is destined to play an important role later in the Syriac History, but here it serves not only to evoke the Acts of Thomas, but may also suggest that the merchants were not free of suspicion as to the actual facts of the arrangement. However, when the merchants first see Joseph, any qualms that they might have had because of the oddness of the situation are quashed by the sheer attractiveness of the boy.45 40 41

42

43

44

45

Klijn, Acts of Thomas, 21. Klijn, Acts of Thomas, 21–22. Klijn notes that in the Sachau manuscript of the acts Thomas is indeed sold for thirty pieces of silver. However, he concludes that ‘the influence of Gen. 37, 28 cannot be excluded according to which Joseph has been sold for twenty pieces of silver’. Though I think the Syriac History to be an early text, I think it would be most imprudent to try and push its date back prior to the accepted date for at, which Klijn gives as the beginning of the third century (Acts of Thomas, 15). Of course, there may have been earlier Joseph traditions from which both sources drew. Syriac History of Joseph 8.17. Klijn briefly discusses the term in Acts of Thomas, 22. As Brock notes, the document in the Syriac History is also called a ‘document of sale’ (‫ܐ‬犯‫ܐܫܛ‬ ‫ܬܐ‬熏‫)ܕܙܒܝܢ‬, with a prosthetic aleph (Syriac History of Joseph 44.7), which is the more regular term (‘Dinah’, 229 n. 15). In Joseph Son of Jacob, for example, the bill of sale is called a 焏‫ܩ‬狏‫ܦ‬, ‘a slip of paper, letter’ (used 8 times, first in Joseph Son of Jacob ii.820 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 598]). This Greek term is briefly discussed in Brock, ‘Dinah’, 229 n. 15. Brock also discusses another Greek term used for the bill of sale in Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah in ‘Dinah’, 228, esp. n. 14, in which he gives references to mercantile usage found in papyri. Syriac History of Joseph 8.14.

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The motif of the bill of sale is absent in Joseph Son of Jacob, though other elements from the Syriac History are adopted in this source.46 Joseph Son of Jacob prefers, rather, to give the merchants a little more gumption, adding here to the motif of suspicion that the author later incorporated in the coat scene with Jacob and the brothers, and in the narrative with Potiphar and his wife. However, in this case, as I have already noted, the merchants’ suspicions are quelled by the intimidating sight of the band of brothers. The suspicions of the merchants are also aroused in Balai, where the scene is greatly extended to further, and very effectively, characterize the brothers as deceitful and rather inept villains. According to Balai, Joseph comes to the merchants covered in mud, partly because he has been weeping, but mostly because the brothers had thrown mud at him in the pit.47 Nevertheless, when the merchants see him they not only notice how handsome Joseph is, they think that they have never seen a slave like him.48 However, as they look more closely, they notice that the men all appeared alike, and were Joseph not in shackles they would have assumed that they had the same parentage.49 The brothers take umbrage at this idea and protest,50 but in the dialogue that ensues it is clear that the merchants are not entirely convinced (just as Jacob will not be later). In fact, the merchants speak up, seemingly mid-negotiation with the brothers, and refute their representation of Joseph.51 They take Joseph’s side against the brothers, portraying their treatment of him as inhumane, and pointing out his great value as a slave, against the pittance the brothers have demanded for him.52 The brothers badmouth Joseph, leading the merchants to outwit the brothers by pointing out that if they ask for too high a price for Joseph after slandering him, that ‘proves that [they] are lying’.53 The brothers back down, and the merchants agree to purchase Joseph for the twenty pieces of silver that the brothers eventually ask, noting that by doing so, ‘The whole of our journey has now been worthwhile’.54 All this praise, given to the great con46

47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54

The fact that the brothers gave Joseph a bill of sale is not mentioned here, but in the final scenes of the story when the merchants reappear ( Joseph Son of Jacob ii.794ff. [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 596 ff.]). Balai, On Joseph i.890 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 36). Balai, On Joseph i.907–912 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 37). Balai, On Joseph i.913–916 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 37). Balai, On Joseph i.921–944 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 37–38). Balai, On Joseph i.905–906 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 37). Balai, On Joseph i.945–956 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 38–39). Balai, On Joseph i.952 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 38). Balai, On Joseph i.986 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 40). The merchants go on to say that even a hundred pieces of silver would have been cheap (Balai, On Joseph i.989–992 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 40]).

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sternation of the brothers,55 serves to further build up and flesh out the image of Joseph as the ideal man, virtuous, noble, and handsome. Balai is keen to explain the source of Joseph’s beauty, and just why he was so attractive an individual. These comments engage with Gen. 39:6, but they are applicable to the whole narrative. In the Syriac History, Gen. 39:6 is specifically linked with the following, so that Joseph’s beauty is seen as the very reason he caught the eye of Potiphar’s wife in the first place.56 Balai, however, appears to be unhappy with an interpretation of the biblical narrative, which inappropriately emphasizes Joseph’s superlative beauty, and instead offers an apology for his beauty by emphasizing his modesty and purity,57 his apatheia,58 and his burning love of God.59 The author then argues that it was Joseph’s modesty which irradiated from his body with shining rays,60 because, unlike the Egyptians,61 Joseph neglected his body and adorned his soul,62 adorning what was revealed with what was hidden,63 and ‘even though he was anxious about what was within, what was without also became exceedingly fair’.64 It is doubtless in this context that the narrator’s ode to Joseph as a beautiful pearl is to be understood.65 The comments by the merchants concerning Joseph’s beauty are a natural outgrowth of reading Gen. 39:6 back onto Genesis 37.

55 56

57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65

Balai, On Joseph i.997–1004 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 40). Syriac History of Joseph 15.1. Specifically stating that ‘his appearance was beautiful and fair and there was no one like him in all of Egypt’. Note also the emphasis in the Acts of Thomas placed on the unusual beauty of Thomas: ‘And in his looks he was more beautiful than all those who were there’ (Klijn, Acts of Thomas, 40–41). Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres simply paraphrases this as, ‘And his beauty shone out and his brightness shone forth like the sun’ (249). Balai, On Joseph iv.5 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 83). Balai, On Joseph iv.6, 8 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 83). Balai, On Joseph iv.7 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 83). Balai, On Joseph iv.9–10 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 83). Balai, On Joseph iv.14 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84). Balai, On Joseph iv.17–18 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84). Balai, On Joseph iv.15–16 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84). Balai, On Joseph iv.19–20 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84). Balai, On Joseph iii.45–56, 65–80 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 73, 73–74). I give the Balai passage here in full: ‘The pearl, if it goes anywhere, its beauty (remains) with it. And on the furthest shore of any land, its beauty is not diminished. And if many trade it, the beauty that it possesses does not decrease. They would rejoice that they happened upon it, for they acquired profit from its beauty. This is a wonder that is silent, but its voices are made by dazzling rays. And it cries out with its appearance though silent, so that all peoples amass around it. […] If you cast aside a pearl in any place, it will not be overcome. It will not fear onlookers, for it will show the beauty that is upon it. And if they throw it in the darkness, its light is sufficient for itself. And if they put it among kings, its onlookers will

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Finally, the merchants act as a source of comfort and support for Joseph both on his journey and when he is again sold as a slave. Again, Balai is the one source that capitalizes on this theme. Once the merchants are far from the brothers,66 they notice that Joseph is distressed.67 They try to find out what he did to make the brothers so angry with him.68 They ask Joseph not to run away,69 telling him that they will treat him kindly.70 They try to comfort him after the ordeal of being sold,71 telling him that perhaps God will be pleased with him and he may be bought by a good master.72 They reassure him that the times of sorrow will pass and happier times will come,73 and then Joseph will remember them, that they were a cause for good in his life.74 The merchants then relate how they have often been caught in a storm, only later to find themselves closer to the harbour. Likewise, Joseph may find it advantageous that he was buffeted in the storm of his former masters, for now he can sail in their ship to the peaceful harbour of Egypt.75 The motif of the merchants as comforters is also taken up by Narsai. The first thing that the merchants notice about Joseph in Narsai’s retelling, however, is the way that they are comforted by his very presence. From the very moment Joseph joins their caravan, they were also joined by a ‘great peace’, which remained with them for the duration of their journey.76 They interpret this to mean that the Lord was with Joseph,77 and they saw that while Joseph was with

66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75

76 77

be amazed at its beauty. It does not have an articulate mouth, but its luminous flashes cry out on its behalf. For it is dumb as far as understanding, but it stirs up the mind of the articulate ones. Its strengths cry out regarding its beauty, according to our ability let us receive from him, so that from him (i.e. his inspiration) we shall relate his contests, even seeking his distresses’. This striking mediation on Joseph’s life as a pearl being traded was perhaps inspired by the Syriac History, where Potiphar’s wife likens Joseph to a pearl (See chapter 1 above; also, Syriac History of Joseph 25.5). Balai, On Joseph i.1165 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 47). Balai, On Joseph i.1161–1164 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 47). Balai, On Joseph i.1166–1168 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 47). Balai, On Joseph i.1173 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 47). Balai, On Joseph i.1175 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 47). Balai, On Joseph i.1193–1194 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 48). Balai, On Joseph i.1195–1198 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 48). Balai, On Joseph i.1197–1198 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 48). Balai, On Joseph i.1199–1200 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 48). Balai, On Joseph i.1201–1208 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 48). Note how artfully the author weaves into the merchants’ speech at the end of his memra the common motif of a scribe finishing a memra being like a ship coming into harbour. Narsai, On Joseph 375. Narsai, On Joseph 377.

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them the whole group was ‘preserved from harm’.78 Concluding that Joseph cannot be a slave, and thus should not be treated like one,79 they decide to approach him, and comfort him in his plight. They acknowledge his nobility, offer him their food and drink, and beg him to not lament over what has happened to him.80 In this section I have shown that the merchants not only enliven the narrative but serve very definite functions in the development of the story.81 This last motif of comforting Joseph, for example, seems to respond to a deep sense among these authors that God would have been watching over Joseph, and that he was indeed with him for the duration of his life (Gen. 39:2). Joseph Son of Jacob has God engage with Joseph dialogically, both in the cistern and beside his mother’s grave. Balai however, seems to do this through the instrumentality of the merchants, who were brought to the brothers’ camp ‘so that the prayer of the just one should be answered’,82 that is, the prayer he offered in the cistern. Interestingly, Joseph specifically prayed for God to send ‘an angel’ to rescue him,83 and it seems likely, given the mention immediately before this of the angels who ministered to Jacob, that Balai understood the merchants to be sent to Joseph in the same way as the three visitors to Abraham (Gen. 18), or the angels to Lot (Gen. 19), or, as interpreted by some of the sources, the man in the wilderness to guide Joseph to the brothers.84

The Market Place The source do not tell the story of Joseph’s journey to Egypt and sale to Potiphar from a single perspective. Balai seems to see the merchants as, in some way, agents of God, destined to play the role of transferring him from the brothers to Potiphar, and so much of the narrative is given from their point of view. Joseph Son of Jacob imaginatively explores the thoughts of both Joseph and Potiphar

78 79 80 81

82 83 84

Narsai, On Joseph 378. Narsai, On Joseph 379–380. Narsai, On Joseph 381–384. See the later episode where Potiphar’s wife also offers Joseph food and drink (Narsai, On Joseph 419–420). These additions are unique to Narsai. Just as the perfume seller serves an important narrative function in the Ephremic memra on Luke 7:36–50 (this text is introduced in chapter 6 below). I’m grateful to Erin Walsh for this observation. Balai, On Joseph i.791 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 32). Balai, On Joseph i.775–776 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 32). E.g., Syriac History of Joseph 4.8–11. For a discussion of companion angels in Christian late antiquity see Muehlberger, Angels in Late Ancient Christianity, 119–147.

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in the marketplace, though Potiphar is perhaps the least well represented of the characters in this scene. He is given a small part compared to the merchants in most of the narratives, though as will be seen below, his role as the judge between Joseph and his wife is treated in an interesting way. This whole scene at the marketplace parallels nicely with the first scene in which Joseph is sold. The long, lingering goodbyes convey both the merchants’ and Joseph’s tender feelings, and this episode is carefully nuanced in Balai’s On Joseph to bring into relief both its awkwardness as well as Joseph’s submissiveness in the face of new trials. Balai has the most to say about this scene and says it the best. As an imaginative writer, thinking his way into scripture, this author excels above all the others who have taken on the epic journey of the story of Joseph. In Balai’s retelling, the merchants continue to act as Joseph’s guides when the caravan arrives in Egypt. The journey has been long and hard, and on arriving in Egypt they unload their camels and rest,85 removing Joseph’s shackles in the process.86 They stand together with Joseph, surveying the land of Egypt, and try to comfort and counsel him. This speech opens with a unique attempt by the sources at evoking Egypt,87 all building up to a comparison between the opportunities that lay before Joseph in Egypt and his plight before he was sold. Here, they say, it can be honourable to be a servant to an honourable master, certainly more honourable than being a shepherd.88 Here Joseph will enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, enforced by the King, and so will be protected from being beaten or otherwise abused by his master.89 They are reluctant to see Joseph sold, because of the beneficent effect he has had on their camp, nevertheless they do still lead Joseph out to be sold at the market. This theme of reticence to sell Joseph is taken up by Joseph Son of Jacob. Here the merchants sell all of their other merchandise before even facing the question of selling Joseph.90 They do want to sell him—they are merchants after all—but stand in awe both of him ‘and of his nobility and the brightness of

85 86

87

88 89 90

Balai, On Joseph iii.85–88 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 74). Balai, On Joseph iii.81–84 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 74). Here the merchants are imagined to be in an elevated camp. In Joseph Son of Jacob, the merchants lodge in the middle of the province of Egypt (‫ܐ‬狏‫ܝܢ‬煟‫ ܡ‬爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫̇ܗ ܕܡ‬熏‫ ;ܒܓ‬i.231 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 532]). ‘Lo, see the beauty of the trees, and consider its plants. Lo, see the abundance of its plants, and the exceedingly tasty fruits. See how beautiful the land is, and how abundant its produce. See how rich are the streams, and how ample are the fountains’ (Balai, On Joseph iii.97–104 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 75]). Balai, On Joseph iii.107–112 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 75). Balai, On Joseph iii.113–120 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 75). Joseph Son of Jacob i.232 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 532).

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his exceedingly fair face’, and so can’t bring themselves to even confront Joseph with the idea.91 Finally, the merchants pluck up courage to speak to Joseph and have him go out to the marketplace and be sold.92 Joseph obliges them and goes out and stands among the slaves, and everyone ‘who came [and] looked at him was in awe of him’.93 In Joseph Son of Jacob, the sale is narrated from the point of view of Joseph, which I will consider shortly. In Balai, however, the merchants are still very much managing Joseph’s transition from the brothers to Potiphar. They take him out to be sold, and it is as if the story is unfolding according to plan, ‘for the time of the sale approached’.94 ‘And behold, Potiphar just happened to come by, and he saw his beauty and he marvelled at it’.95 Seeing Joseph, Potiphar thinks to himself, ‘When his masters come, and take the greater price, I won’t even think about the gold, for nobility is greater than it is’.96 Unlike all of the other sources, in Balai the merchants actually approach Potiphar,97 and they offer to sell Joseph to him: ‘By the name, buy the slave from us, and acquire a noble son in your house. We will not sing his praises today, but after a while you will remember [us]: because of your purchase, your tongue will not fail (to recall) our memory’.98 Potiphar agrees to the (unstated) price to take away the Hebrew slave.99 The point of view is about to transition to Joseph, but before it does the narrator contrasts Potiphar’s joy at buying Joseph with the merchants’ sadness at selling him.100 The merchants beg Joseph to ‘not revile us, O illustrious one, for we are grieved by our separation’.101 91 92

93

94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101

Joseph Son of Jacob i.233–234 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 532). Joseph Son of Jacob i.235–236 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 532). See Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 208–211, in which the merchants also admonish Joseph to not find fault with them for selling him, but rather ‘let the blame be to those who buy you’. Joseph Son of Jacob i.237–240 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 532). The general meaning of ‫ܬ‬煿‫ ܒ‬when used with the preposition ‫ ܒ‬is ‘to be ashamed’ (Rom. 1:16) as opposed to the usual meaning when construed with the preposition 爯‫‘ ܡ‬to be in awe’ ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.233 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 532]). In this instance, however, it seems clear (especially in the context of Joseph Son of Jacob i.254–256 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533]) that the meaning is ‘was in awe of him’. The use of the preposition ‫ ܒ‬rather than 爯‫ ܡ‬may have been due to metrical considerations. See Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 211–214, where the ‘modest Joseph’ is noticed, but there is no mention of awe. Balai, On Joseph iii.129–130 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 76). Balai, On Joseph iii.131–132 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 76). Balai, On Joseph iii.133–136 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 76). Balai, On Joseph iii.137–138 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 76). Balai, On Joseph iii.139–144 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 76). Balai, On Joseph iii.145–146 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 76). Balai, On Joseph iii.147–150 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 76). Balai, On Joseph iii.151–152 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 76).

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Before continuing with the separation scene, I must go back to the transaction of sale, for it is at that moment in Joseph Son of Jacob that the point of view turns to Joseph. Up until this time, Joseph has been a passive and compliant participant in his sale. Joseph Son of Jacob is alone in imagining the experience of the marketplace from the perspective of Joseph, and by changing the point of view it offers an unusually sharp critique of slavery. Joseph is shocked by what he sees. He weeps and laments ‘in his heart’ at the dreadful sight.102 Humanity was being debased because men were being sold like animals,103 and so he calls the slave market an ‘evil and accursed fair’,104 wondering how he ever came to be in such a place.105 His mind goes back to the origins of slavery and he contrasts his behaviour with that of Ham and Cain.106 Unlike them, he had never disrespected his father,107 nor did he otherwise go astray. In fact, his father blessed him every day, and did not make the mistake of cursing him; nevertheless, here he was.108 Joseph is distracted from his reverie by the arrival of Potiphar, who stares at him in wonder. Joseph and Potiphar then engage in a dialogue.109 In this text, it is Joseph who is proactive. Seeing Potiphar looking at him, he immediately asks, ‘Why are you standing and staring at me? If you want to buy slaves, behold, I am here’.110 He then tells Potiphar why he should do exactly that, assuring him that in the very hour that he is brought in to live in Potiphar’s house, God will bless his whole household, multiplying ‘within it silver and gold and riches and goods’.111 What is the reason for Joseph’s assurance? It is the hope in God committed to him by his father.112 Potiphar responds that though he does not need a slave, he wants to buy Joseph. However, he has one question: Is Joseph really a slave, and not a nobleman as he appears?113

102 103 104 105 106 107

108 109 110 111 112 113

Joseph Son of Jacob i.253 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533). Joseph Son of Jacob i.241–252 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533). Joseph Son of Jacob i.243 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533). Compare Basil of Caesarea’s more discursive diatribe against slavery (Taylor, Syriac Versions, Sections 108–112). Joseph Son of Jacob i.245–249 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533). Compare the brothers’ claim in Balai, On Joseph i.1057–1072 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 42–43), that Joseph deserved slavery because he had disrespected his father—perhaps the prompt for this scene. Joseph Son of Jacob i.250–252 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533). Joseph Son of Jacob i.261–276 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533–534). Joseph Son of Jacob i.261–262 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533–534). Joseph Son of Jacob i.263–266 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 534). Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 230, where Joseph expresses confidence ‘in that pledge (焏‫ܒ‬犯‫ )ܥ‬our father gave’. Joseph Son of Jacob i.267–274 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 534). In Joseph and his Brothers in

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Joseph’s anguished reply is that he is ‘a slave of him who created everything from nothing’.114 Joseph is sold. The Syriac History tells matter-of-factly that the sale price was 300 pieces of silver.115 Joseph Son of Jacob seems to respond directly to this by pointing out that although Moses gave the price for which Joseph was sold to the merchants, he did not give the price that the merchants received from Potiphar.116 This is an odd comment from an author who is quite happy to say all sorts of things that Moses did not. The clue to the reason why Joseph Son of Jacob is so particular about this point may be found in the short recension. There it says that the price for which Jesus was betrayed explained the price of Joseph’s sale by his brothers.117 There were clearly a set of standard interpretations for the sale of Joseph that Joseph Son of Jacob knew, but that were either not known by, or not adhered to by, the author of the Syriac History. Since the Syriac History steps out beyond these interpretations, it is brought back into line by the stringent author of Joseph Son of Jacob. Joseph now faces another departure and again must bid farewell to his companions. In Joseph Son of Jacob, as Joseph leaves the ‘sons of Gilead’ he blesses them: ‘May the God of my Father go with you and keep you, And may he prosper you and bless you all your lives’.118 The merchants are similarly blessed and bid farewell in Narsai, though there it is in response to an emotional plea that Joseph will not be angry with them for selling him.119 In Balai, however, Joseph is grieved to leave the merchants, being moved to tears by their compassion.120 He bids them farewell, praying that the price they received for his freedom may be advantageous to them.121 The merchants misconstrue Joseph’s comments,122 and thinking that he is angry with them, they give a long response defending their actions, and assuring Joseph he is much better off where he is—as they are now without him.123 Joseph, still weeping, speaks to the merchants peace-

114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123

Three Metres, 238–239, Potiphar’s response to the modest Joseph is only, ‘Now even if I did not need to buy a slave, I would buy you’. He then immediately approaches the merchants and asks the price of the boy. The phrase ‫ܡ‬煟‫ ܡ‬焏‫ ܠ‬爯‫ ܡ‬is used frequently in the Narsai corpus. Syriac History of Joseph 14.1. Joseph Son of Jacob i.279–283 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 534). Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 240–241. Joseph Son of Jacob i.284–286 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 535). Narsai, On Joseph 392–396. Balai, On Joseph iii.153–154 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 76). Balai, On Joseph iii.155–160 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 77). Balai, On Joseph iii.209 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 78). Balai, On Joseph iii.161–204 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 77–78).

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ably,124 and tries to reassure them that he only wishes to serve is the Lord, and to prosper in this foreign land as his fathers prospered in foreign lands before him.125 As Joseph leaves the merchants and delivers himself to his new master his thoughts return to his father Jacob,126 and he is grieved and weeps.127 He cries out to Jacob in his sorrow, wishing that he had never seen the dreams and by them be separated from his father.128 Lastly, I consider the events related from Potiphar’s point of view.129 When Potiphar comes into the marketplace and first sees Joseph, he is amazed at his unprecedented beauty.130 He wonders to himself whether this boy might not be a prince come from a far country who has come in order to buy slaves in Egypt.131 It is at this point that Joseph speaks up and asks to be bought. Once Potiphar is satisfied that Joseph is a slave, he approaches the merchants and asks the price of Joseph.132 In Narsai, Potiphar offers to pay any price for Joseph if he is a slave for sale. The merchants agree to sell him if Joseph is willing.133 In Joseph Son of Jacob, Potiphar then weighs out the price for Joseph and gives it to the Arabs.134 In Balai, as Potiphar leads Joseph into his house from the marketplace he marvels at his good fortune and wise discernment in purchasing Joseph.135 Once home, Potiphar ‘gladly (‫ܘܬܗ‬煟‫ )ܒܚ‬delivered his whole house-

124 125 126 127 128 129

130

131 132 133 134 135

Balai, On Joseph iii.205–206 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 78). Balai, On Joseph iii.207–236 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 78–79). Balai, On Joseph iii.237–238 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 79). Balai, On Joseph iii.239–240 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 79). Balai, On Joseph iii.241–260 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 79–80). Potiphar’s identity varies in the sources. He is the head of Pharaoh’s eunuchs in Syriac History of Joseph 14.1; the ‘chief of the guards’ (焏‫ ܕܕܚ̈ܫ‬焏‫ )ܪܒ‬in Joseph Son of Jacob i.254 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533); and the head of the merchants in Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 226. Joseph Son of Jacob i.254–256 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533). Compare Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 226–228, where Joseph’s beauty is not described as superlative, nor are any other thoughts of Potiphar’s reported. Joseph Son of Jacob i.257–260 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 533). Joseph Son of Jacob i.277–278 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 534). Narsai, On Joseph 385–390. Joseph Son of Jacob i.283 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 534). Balai, On Joseph iii.261–264 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 80). In Syriac History of Joseph, the Lord blesses (‫ܟ‬犯‫ )ܒ‬rather than prospers (熯‫ )ܐܨܠ‬Potiphar’s household because of Joseph, following Peshitta Gen. 39:5 (Syriac History of Joseph 14.7). Potiphar sees this and loves Joseph like himself because of it (Syriac History of Joseph 14.3). Likewise, in Balai, Potiphar’s house is blessed (‫ܟ‬犯‫ )ܐܬܒ‬as Joseph enters it; its possessions grow in abundance, and Potiphar’s honour increases (On Joseph iii.265–268 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 80]). In Ephrem’s commentary on Genesis, peace (焏‫ )ܢܝܚ‬comes to Potiphar’s servants while Joseph is in his house (Commentary on Genesis 35.3).

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hold into [Joseph’s] hands’,136 saying to Joseph, ‘See, I have put into your hands everything that I have, and there is not in Pharaoh’s house a man greater than your master, and there is none in my entire house greater than you. Behold, I give into your hands power over everything except your mistress, for you are her servant’.137

Conclusions Narrative poets played with time. They understood the difference between narrative time and narrated time and saw new narratives in the interstices between the two. These interstices are like concentrated time, or time tightly packed in small spaces. This ability to unpack concentrated narrated time seems to be part of the toolkit of the narrative poet. The three episodes explored in this chapter are fine examples of this activity. This unpacking process can take the narrative as its starting point, as is the case with the merchants and the sale of Joseph. The narrative poet sees in the sparse references to the merchants these concentrated interstices and unpacks them to form new narratives. The first expansion is taken from the memory of the poet, a memory that keeps the past constantly present in the narrative, always ready to interrupt or even disrupt the present with its stories. Joseph’s mother is long dead when he is taken to Egypt. But in the temporal imagination of the poet the past interrupts the present not to disrupt, but to comfort. 136

137

Joseph Son of Jacob i.288 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 535). Syriac History of Joseph specifies that Joseph was given charge over all his man servants and maid servants and possessions (Syriac History of Joseph 14.4). Likewise, in Balai, Joseph is made the head of the household, manager of Potiphar’s possessions, both current and future, and is exalted over all the other servants (Balai, On Joseph iii.269–276 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 80]). Syriac History of Joseph 14.5–6. Note the borrowed language from Gen. 39:9. According to Balai, while in Potiphar’s house, Joseph wins the love of both the old and the young in the household (Balai, On Joseph iii.277–278 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 81]). In this new position of authority, he reflects upon his past enslavement (Balai, On Joseph iii.279–280 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 81]). He ‘established peace (焏‫ )ܫܝܢ‬among the servants, and peace (焏‫ )ܫܠܡ‬among their masters. He was calm and put an end to anger, he was quick to spread peace abroad. And forgot a little about what he suffered from his brothers and the sons of his father’ (Balai, On Joseph iii.281–286 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 81]). In Syriac History of Joseph, ‘God blessed the Egyptian and his entire household’ (Syriac History of Joseph 14.7). In Ephrem’s commentary on Genesis, Potiphar became rich because of Joseph just as Laban had become rich because of Joseph’s father (Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 35.1). In Joseph Son of Jacob, everything that Potiphar acquired was blessed ‘because of Joseph’ (牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ ܝ‬爏‫ ( )ܡܛ‬Joseph Son of Jacob i.290 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 535); see also Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres 247).

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This expansion of temporal interstices is the essential work of the narrative poet, so it is not as gratuitous as it might seem. These narrative expansions need not resolve any narrative or exegetical crux. Nor do they serve clear parenetic ends, which is probably why they do not appear in the homilies by Narsai and Jacob. This is another way that these two genres differ. The playful imagination on display in the narrative poems is certainly found in homiletic texts, especially those of Jacob, but it is often serving an exegetical or parenetic purpose. In the narrative poems the purpose is the temporal imperative of the narrative poet. Time is being expanded and contracted to make the story better. These three examples suggest that the work of the narrative poet is essentially creative and imaginative. They reflect the artistic and theological values of the poet but are driven by creative forces rather than interrogative ones. Joseph’s character is shaped by these stories. His experience in Potiphar’s house is framed by the scene in the marketplace. The feelings of the merchants for Joseph foreshadow the stories of Joseph that are upcoming. The narrative poet draws from both the past and the future to create a new present.

chapter 6

Making a Syriac Woman Sinful (Gen. 39) Up to now I have been Satan’s well-decked shop-front and home.1

∵ In this and subsequent chapters, I aim to bring out two features of Genesis 39 as it is construed in the Syriac sources. The first is the imaginative encounter with the text, or the way in which the authors appear to have visualized the narrative and expanded and reworked it in a lively and vivid fashion, filling in at each turn the gaps left by the Peshitta’s narrative sparseness. The second feature is the ways that Syriac authors crafted Potiphar’s wife to resemble the prevailing image of the Syriac sinful woman.2 This image is not static, nor do the sinful woman narratives serve the same function over the period from which the texts stem. Thus, the sinful woman of the Ephremic memra is an icon of repentance, giving hope to the convert and those who have fallen, while in Narsai’s fiercely admonitory homilies, the sinful woman is an object to be feared and shunned, raised up as an antitype for women and as a warning for all men who would allow themselves to come under her power. I shall take up this dichotomy in more detail later in the chapter. Several studies have been devoted to the portrayal of Potiphar’s wife3 and her encounter with Joseph as described in late antique and early medieval sources, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian. Yet, in all these the Syriac tradition has been almost completely excluded. I shall attempt to redress this imbalance, while also showing how the Syriac texts relate to the broader tradition, so as to better illuminate both. My chief points of comparison in the Christian tradition are

1 Pelagia’s description of herself to Bishop Nonnos (Brock and Harvey, Holy Women, 52). 2 On the Syriac sinful woman narratives see most recently, Harvey, Scenting Salvation, 148–155, and Harvey, ‘Why the Perfume Mattered’. 3 She is becoming somewhat polyonymous, being otherwise called Mrs. Potiphar (Kugel) or Mut-em-enet (first by Thomas Mann, Joseph and His Brothers, and followed by Bach, Women, Seduction and Betrayal); I opt for the more traditional cognomen and will also refer to her as Joseph’s mistress, as do the Syriac texts.

© Kristian S. Heal, 2023 | doi:10.1163/9789004526969_008

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the homilies of Ambrose,4 Chrysostom,5 and Ephrem Graecus, and the kontakia of Romanos.6 The works of Faverty,7 Kugel,8 and Goldman9 provide points of comparison with the Jewish and broader literary traditions.10 I have also tried to be sensitive to parallels between portrayals of Potiphar’s wife and other sinful women in Syriac narratives and indicate these where they seem apparent.11

The Temptress (Gen. 39:7) Fredrick Faverty’s 1931 article portrays Potiphar’s wife alongside her sisters in world literature,12 and in so doing shows that Genesis 39 not only prompts numerous retellings in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sources, but also that the character of the wicked lady who importunes the ‘continently deaf’ virtuous youth was an extremely popular stock motif in world literature.13 Faverty finds these ‘sisters’ in Egyptian, Babylonian, Hebrew, Hindu, Chinese, Persian and Turkish, as well as classical, medieval, and pre-modern European sources. Not surprisingly, the figure and role of Potiphar’s wife is enriched and developed under the influence of these sisters, as Faverty shows in the second half of his article.14

4

5 6 7

8 9 10

11 12

13 14

Cited by paragraph from the translation of McHugh in the Fathers of the Church series. This homily has been treated most recently in Colish, Ambrose’s Patriarchs, 127–148. Colish places this and the three other homilies on the patriarchs in a catechetical context, arguing that they were principally ‘vehicles for moral instruction’ (2). Cited by homily and paragraph from the translation of Hill, Saint John Chrysostom. On the influence of the Syriac tradition on Romanos’ kontakia on Joseph, see Grosdidier de Matons, Romanos le Mélode, 196–197. Faverty, ‘Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife’. This is an important article, which anticipates many of the ideas that later authors work out at greater length. Unfortunately, it does not seem to have influenced subsequent studies, and was unknown to both Kugel and Goldman. Kugel, In Potiphar’s House. Goldman, Wiles of Women. In addition to the early Christian materials, I occasionally refer to later Christian works on Joseph, both in literature and art, in order to help frame additional questions to ask of the Syriac sources. I discuss these texts and draw further links between them and the Syriac portrayal of Potiphar’s wife in the next chapter. The Hungarian classicist Karl Kérenyi complemented Thomas Mann on his creation of Mut-em-enet by observing that she was the ‘new-born sister of the Phaedra of Euripides’ (Yohannan, ‘Hebraism and Hellenism’, 431); Narsai calls Potiphar’s wife Eve’s sister (Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 279). Faverty, ‘Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife’, 81. Faverty, ‘Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife’, 102–127.

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The first development that Faverty notices is that the temptress becomes a queen and the tempted young man her step-son.15 This particular transformation is a common feature of later medieval versions of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, but it is not evident in late antique retellings. In patristic literature the figure of Potiphar’s wife is developed in a different direction: She is not made more powerful, but more appealing. She is aligned with the standard portrait of a ‘weak-natured, wantonly sensual, darkly sexual’ woman that is so common in patristic sources.16 Ambrose and Chrysostom hint in this direction, recognizing that Potiphar’s wife was actually desirable, while at the same time being keen to emphasize that she was of course despicable (see below). However, the full development of the temptress into an attractive woman, beautifully adorned and alluringly perfumed,17 is the special province of the Syriac tradition.18

The Adorned Woman: Syriac History of Joseph It is not improbable that the idea of adorning and beautifying Potiphar’s wife was inherited by Syriac authors from Jewish traditions, perhaps via the Syriac History. The Testament of Joseph has already developed the narrative in this direction, as can be seen from Joseph’s observation that Potiphar’s wife was ‘very beautiful, [and] splendidly adorned in order to beguile me’ (9:5). This motif appears to have changed little over time in the Jewish tradition, and when it reappears in the medieval Midrashic collection Midrash Tanḥuma, the essential bipartite structure describing clothing and libidinous intentions is still evident.19

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16 17

18 19

Seen by Faverty as a clear example of the influence of folk-tale motifs on this story (‘Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife’, 102–105); Goldman makes much the same point (Goldman, Wiles of Women, 12; drawing from Thompson’s Motif Index of Folk-Literature, vol. 5). Brock and Harvey, Holy Women, 21. The standard portrait is vividly captured in Clark, Women in the Early Church, especially in chapter 1 (27–76). A succinct overview of the use of cosmetics and perfumes in the ancient world is given in Forbes, ‘Cosmetics and Perfumes in Antiquity’. A study of cosmetics in Greek patristic sources (2nd–4th century) can be found in, Grillet, Femmes et les fards dans l’antiquité grecque, 129–156. As noted by Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 62 n. 25. For the evidence from material culture see most recently, Morgan, Dress and Personal Appearance. ‘She used to change her clothes three times a day, day after day—the clothes that she wore in the morning she did not wear at noon, and the clothes she wore at noon she did not wear in the evening—and to what purpose? Only that he desire her’ (Cited by Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 29). Ephrem Graecus goes one-step further, having Potiphar’s wife change her cloths hourly ( Joseph the Most Virtuous, 481).

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In the Syriac History, however, this adornment theme has already developed beyond what is found in Jewish sources. The texts say that not only did Potiphar’s wife adorn herself everyday with regal attire but also that she ‘would perfume (‫ ܗܘܬ‬焏‫ )ܡܒܣܡ‬her body with choice scents (correcting to: 焏‫ܒܪܝܚܢ‬ 焏‫’)ܓܒ̈ܝ‬.20 The addition of choice scents is not insignificant, since this is a central element of the preparations of the Syriac sinful woman found in the Ephremic memra on Luke 7:36–50.21 In this text, based on a genuine work by Ephrem,22 the sinful woman hears that Jesus is dining with Simeon the Pharisee and seizes the opportunity to repent. She exchanges her fine clothes with ones more conducive to repentance and rushes off to the perfume seller to buy unguent for Jesus. The perfume seller, seeing the sinful woman’s humble ̈ ‫)ܡ‬ appearance, recalls how she always used to wear ‘fine clothes’ (焏‫ ܛ̈ܒ‬焏‫ܢ‬焏 and ‘choice fragrant unguent’ (焏‫ ܪܝܫܝ‬焏‫)ܡܫܚ‬.23 A fuller picture of the sinful woman’s attire appears earlier in the memra in a description of her removing the garments and accoutrements of her trade, and ̈ ‫ ܡ‬爯‫ܬܝ‬熏‫)ܟ‬.24 putting on the ‘penitential garment of the poor’ (焏‫ܣܝ‬熏‫ ܕܚ‬焏‫ܟ‬焏 This includes removing the ‘black eyeliner’ (‫ܐ‬煟‫ )ܨܕܝ‬or ‘stibium’ (焏‫ܚܠ‬熏‫ )ܟ‬from her eyes;25 the ‘bracelets’ (‫ܪܐ‬焏‫ )ܫ‬from her arms (and/or legs);26 the decorated

20 21 22

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24 25 26

Syriac History of Joseph 16.1. I follow Harvey in referring to this as the Ephremic memra on the Sinful Woman (Harvey, ‘Why the Perfume Mattered’, 72). Sebastian Brock notes that only a kernel of this memra is considered genuine (Brock, ‘Brief Guide’, 318). On the influence of this text in medieval sources see Mahr, Relation of Passion Plays. Beck, Sermones ii, iv.85–88. Harvey renders the stanza as follows: ‘You were clothed in fine raiment and carried little gold, and you sought (cheap) choice perfume to sweeten your wantonness’ (Harvey, Scenting Salvation, 149). I remain unconvinced that the carrying of little gold justifies (if this is indeed the reason) the addition of ‘cheap’ to the choice perfume. The contrast that the poet draws seems not to be between the expensive clothes and the ‘cheap’ perfume, but between what she is wear and how much she is spending. Usually, she wears expensive clothes and has a small amount of gold to buy perfume, but now, she wears filthy clothes and carries a great amount of gold to buy anointing oil. Note that Ephrem seems to make a clear distinction between 焏‫ ܪܝܚܢ‬and 焏‫ܡܫܚ‬. While 焏‫ ܪܝܚܢ‬is used quite deliberately to refer to scent, fragrance and odour, as in the Hymns on Paradise i.5 (fragrance); v.6 (fragrance), 9 (of blossoms); vi.3 (for the nostrils), 4 (drunk with fragrance); xi.12 (of spring), 13 (of a censer); and xv.10 (of fruit), it seems that 焏‫ ܡܫܚ‬is used most commonly for anointing oil or unguent, for example throughout Hymns on Virginity iv, v and vii. Beck, Sermones ii, iv.53. Beck, Sermones ii, iv. 46, 48. Beck, Sermones ii, iv.50. See lns. 169–170, where Satan, as a former lover, observes that she is not even wearing her bracelets of gold and silver.

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sandals from her feet;27 and the ‘garment of fine white linen’ (‫ܨܐ‬熏‫ ܒ‬爯‫ܬܝ‬熏‫)ܟ‬ from her body.28 Though developed somewhat, the description of Potiphar’s wife in the Syriac History is devoid of the elaborate specificity that is found in this early memra attributed to Ephrem. However, it is precisely in this respect that subsequent texts in the Syriac tradition excel.

The Sinful Woman: Joseph Son of Jacob I begin with Joseph Son of Jacob. Though heavily dependent upon the Syriac History, Joseph Son of Jacob modifies the narrative order of its Vorlage such that Potiphar’s wife first views Joseph from a distance,29 and then takes extensive pains over her appearance before ever making an attempt to seduce him.30 She adopts a shock and awe strategy, intending to both entice and amaze Joseph with her ‘desirable’ (焏‫ )ܪܓܝܓ‬and ‘wonderful’ (‫ )ܬܗܪܐ‬garments. In five couplets she effects a transformation, and then positions herself the better to admire and be admired. These five couplets create, as it were, five layers of enticement. The hair is scented with ‘saffron’ (爯‫ܕܝ‬熏‫ܘܩ‬犯‫)ܩ‬31 and ‘cinnamon’ (‫ܢ‬熏‫ܢܡ‬熏‫)ܩ‬. The body is perfumed with fine incense and all manner of perfumes, and then draped in ‘silk’ (焏‫ܪܝ‬焏‫ )ܫ‬and ‘linen’ (‫ܨܐ‬熏‫)ܒ‬. Encircling these fabrics is ‘a jewel encrusted belt of gold’ (‫ܐ‬煟‫ܢ‬熏‫ ܒܝܩ‬牟‫ ܩܒܝ‬焏‫ܐ ܕܕܗܒ‬犯‫)ܩܡ‬, which is coordinated with varied and striking jewellery adorning the hands, feet, and neck. Finally, a sapphire-coloured veil is placed over the head to add

27 28

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Beck, Sermones ii, iv.55–56. Beck, Sermones ii, iv.52. More evidence is needed to establish the significance of the similarities (and the verbal differences), but at the very least there is clear evidence of the formation of a rhetorical convention, wherein sinful women are identified by their fine clothes and choice scents. Joseph Son of Jacob i.294 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 535). ‘She got up and put on desirable and wondrous clothes; she adorned herself with garments of linen and with silks. And she tied her waist with a golden belt studded with rubies, and she was covered with a veil the colour of sapphire. She spread her bed with the desirable fabrics of the land of Egypt, and rugs of purples and scarlets. She sprinkled her hair with saffron and cinnamon, and with fine-scented incense and all manner of perfumes. She adorned herself with jewelry of all manner of craftsmen, with gold and with silver and precious gems and pearls. She adorns herself and sits down and her beauty shines before Joseph. And she is like the moon in the days of Nisan, gazing at him’ ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.298–309 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 535–536]). See Brockelmann, Lexicon, 700b (citing this passage only), and reproduced in Costaz, Dictionnaire, 330a. Cognates, but not this form, can be found in Payne Smith, Thesaurus Syriacus, 3737. See also the word crocus.

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to the enticement. Thus adorned, it seems only appropriate that no ordinary couch would be sufficient as a seat for the lady, and so hers is overlaid with desirable Egyptian fabrics and colourful rugs.32 In this manner, Joseph Son of Jacob fashions a temptress worthy of her quarry, a vision of beauty comparable to the full moon in springtime.33 In this portrayal of Potiphar’s wife, the author seems to be drawing on the description of the alluring woman in Prov. 7:10–21. This author seems to have been inspired by two elements in this passage. The first is the mention of the bed or couch (焏‫ܣ‬犯‫ )ܥ‬and a description of its preparation as a place of seduction (Prov. 7:16–17). The bed plays a central role in the Proverbs episode, but as I have shown it is only one of several ways that Joseph’s mistress prepares to seduce him.34 This interesting addition to Joseph Son of Jacob contains verbal parallels with the Proverbs account, but also significant departures. Both refer to the ‘rug’, or ‘throw’ (‫ܐ‬狏‫ܝ‬熏‫)ܬܫ‬, for example, that is ‘laid’ (‫ܐ‬熏‫ )ܫ‬upon the bed. However, in Joseph Son of Jacob, there are more than one, and they are of particular colours. Joseph Son of Jacob also diverges in the other fabric that adorns the bed. Instead of the ‘Egyptian bed-spreads’ (焏‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ ܡ‬焏‫ )ܩܪܡ‬of Prö ‫ܡ‬ verbs, Joseph Son of Jacob chooses ‘fine fabrics of the land of Egypt’ (焏‫ܢ‬焏 爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ ܕܡ‬焏‫ ܕܐܪܥ‬焏‫)ܪܓܝܓ‬.35 Nor does Potiphar’s wife perfume the bed like the alluring woman (Prov. 7:17), preferring to follow the Syriac History and have her perfume herself. The one point of correspondence here is in the choice of perfumes: both use cinnamon, though in Joseph Son of Jacob it is for the hair rather than the bed.36

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Joseph Son of Jacob i.302–303 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 535). Joseph Son of Jacob i.309 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536). This seems to be to be a rare glimpse at the early Syriac aesthetic appreciation of nature. Given Ephrem’s commitment to the canons of scripture and nature, a thorough study of early Syriac nature imagery is a desideratum. See Narsai, On Joseph 199, where in his second dream he refers to the ‘fresh moon’ (焏‫ܪܐ ܪܓܝ‬煿‫ ;)ܣ‬also Narsai, On Joseph 406, where Joseph is described as, ‘A rose and like lilies in April’. Brock indicates that several poems in the Isaac corpus give extended description of the natural world and translates an extract from one of them that gives a description of an eagle catching a fish in the Euphrates (Brock, Brief Outline, 201–202). On the Isaac corpus, see Bou Mansour, ‘Une clé pour la distinction des écrits des Isaac d’Antioche’; and ‘La distinction des écrits des Isaac d’Antioche’. The bed may also be a literary and artistic trope, perhaps suggested by the Mosaic discussed in Segal, Edessa, 39–40. Joseph Son of Jacob i.302 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 535). Note how the artful combination of verbs and derived nouns in Prov. 7:16 is not employed by Joseph Son of Jacob. Joseph Son of Jacob i.304 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536). I am grateful to Joseph Witztum for drawing my attention to the possible play between ‫ܐ‬犯‫‘ ܣܥ‬hair’ in this passage and 焏‫ܣ‬犯‫‘ ܥ‬bed’ in Proverbs.

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Joseph Son of Jacob is not, then, overly dependent upon any known source for its construction of the temptress. Rather, the author seems to take up the task with gusto, describing her preparations extensively, allowing her to complete them without passing judgment, and acknowledging that she was indeed beautiful.37 In this respect Joseph Son of Jacob is distinctive, differing greatly from the Ephremic memra on the sinful woman for example, which, though giving details of the harlot’s accoutrements as she removes them, cannot help but tell precisely how they should be valued. Thus in the Ephremic memra, the text does not simply describe perfume, eye makeup, bracelets, sandals, and fine white dresses, but a perfume that sweetens wantonness,38 deadly eye cosmetics that blind,39 bracelets that entice,40 sandals of lewdness,41 and the fine white dress of whoredom.42 Balai continues in this trajectory, preferring to label rather than describe the adornment of Potiphar’s wife, and observing only that ‘his mistress painted her face, but besmeared soul with filth (焏‫ ܒܣܝܢ‬狏‫ ܛܫ‬煿̇‫’)ܘܢܦܫ‬.43 There are no descriptions of the kinds of cosmetics used,44 nor any other types of adornment described; rather, the author moves quickly to a series of evaluative statements that leave the reader in no doubt of how Potiphar’s wife is to be construed. Hence, painting the face is equated with besmearing her soul with filth,45 and the ‘adornments’ (‫ܐ‬狏‫ )ܨ̈ܒ‬with ‘the snares of an ornament’ (營‫ܦ̈ܚ‬ 焏‫)ܣܩܠ‬.46 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

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46

Not since the Testament of Joseph has an author been so effusive in their assessment of the beauty of Potiphar’s wife (Testament of Joseph 9:5, and discussion of this passage above). Beck, Sermones ii, iv.87–88. Beck, Sermones ii, iv.45–48. Beck, Sermones ii, iv.49–50. Beck, Sermones ii, iv.55–56. Beck, Sermones ii, iv.51–52. Balai, On Joseph iv.21–22 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84). Balai draws a contrast here between Potiphar’s wife and Joseph, who ‘neglected his body, but ornamented his soul’ (Balai, On Joseph iv.17–18 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84]). Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph 481–484 (Text 29): ‘Hour by hour by changing her clothes, making up her face and decking herself in gold, the wretched woman tried to entrap with satanic nods and shameless smiles the holy eyes of the just young man’. Though the use of 犯‫ܚ‬狏‫ ܐܫ‬in the next couplet seems to be a play on its double meaning of the blackening of cosmetics and the befouling of the body. Balai, On Joseph iv.21–22 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84). ‘Filth’ (焏‫ )ܣܝܢ‬can simply mean mud or dirt, but it is also used with a spiritual connotation. For example, in the Letter to Publius, Ephrem speaks of the reward given to all those who have not been defiled with filth (焏‫( )ܣܝܢ‬Ephrem, Letter to Publius 2). In Narsai, God determines to purge the filth of the iniquity (焏‫ܠ‬熏‫ ܕܥ‬焏‫ )ܣܝܢ‬of the earth by the flood (Narsai memra 71 On the Flood 133). Likewise, through the Eucharist Christians ‘wipe away’ (犯‫ )ܐܬܟܦ‬the filth of iniquity from their hearts (Narsai memra 15 On Reproof 473–474). Balai, On Joseph iv.25, 27 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84). ‘Snares’ (焏‫ )ܦ̈ܚ‬are frequently

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Eve’s Daughter: Narsai Narsai synthesizes these two tendencies. In his narrative, the scene began when Potiphar’s wife saw Joseph’s beauty ‘and desired him; and just like fire the desire for his body flamed up within her’.47 Enflamed with lust,48 she is transformed into a lioness,49 intent only on biting ‘into [Joseph’s] body and soul with her wantonness (‫ܬ̇ܗ‬熏‫’)ܙܠܝܠ‬.50 However, she does not pounce immediately, but rather prepares herself first, in the tradition of Joseph Son of Jacob.51 Narsai’s description is evocative and innovative, containing several original elements, including the use of eye cosmetics, the plaiting of her hair, and the scouring of her body preparatory to applying her perfume. Plaiting the hair and scouring the body seem to be entirely new elements for this scene.52 Balai mentions the use of cosmetics, but the description of the eye cosmetics in both Narsai and the Ephremic memra is sufficiently similar to suggest that Narsai is more likely to have been influenced by this other portrayal of a sinful woman than by Balai’s brief description of Potiphar’s wife.53 Narsai also emphasizes the shame-

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used with spiritual connotations (see Ephrem, Hymns on Paradise vii.23; Hymns on Nativity iv.39–40; and Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 16 [8], 153 [77] etc., where the snares are those laid by women). Doubtless the connection between women and snares stems from Eccl. 7:26 ‘I find a woman more bitter than death—for she is a snare (焏‫)ܦܚ‬ and her heart is a net (‫ܬܐ‬煟‫ܝ‬犏‫’)ܡ‬. Narsai, On Joseph 407–408. Narsai sees ‘wantonness’ or ‘shamelessness’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ )ܙܠܝܠ‬as the constant study, the motivating force, and the dangerous weapon of all sinful women (see Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 52 [26], 53 [27], 55 [28], 135 [68], 272 [136], 310 [155], 345 [173], 349 [175], 369 [185], 393 [197]). See below for a discussion of Narsai’s use of animal imagery for Potiphar’s wife. Narsai, On Joseph 409–410. See also Narsai, On Joseph 467; Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 261 [131], where Narsai also refers to Potiphar’s wife as a lioness (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫)ܐܪܝ‬. ݀ ‫ )ܟܚܠ‬so that they ‘She painted her eyes with eye cosmetics (‫ܐ‬煟‫ ܨܕܝ‬焏‫ ܒܟܚܠ‬煿̇‫ ܥ̈ܝܢܝ‬狏 ̇ ݀ shone exceedingly, and she plaited her hair (煿‫ ܪܫ‬狏‫ܠ‬煟‫ )ܓ‬with great skill and (came and) ݀ ‫ܩ‬犯‫ )ܡ‬and put on her perfume stood in front of him. She scoured her body (煿̇‫ܫܡ‬熏‫ ܓ‬狏 ̇ (煿‫ )ܪܝܚ‬and hung gold (upon herself). And (came and) stood in front of him without any shame in all her lustfulness. She put on linen together with silk and she put on necklaces, and she went straight into his presence and began to trouble him’ (Narsai, On Joseph 411– 416). One cannot help wondering if Narsai incorporated so distinctive an element as plaiting the hair as a subtle reference to a specific woman. On the notion that a specific woman (Mamai, the wife of Bishop Barsauma) inspired Narsai to write his invective against women (Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women), see Molenberg, ‘Reproof of Eve’s Daughters’, 66–67. For example, both texts refer specifically to the application of eye cosmetics, using both ‫ܐ‬煟‫ ܨܕܝ‬and 焏‫ ܟܚܠ‬in each case (Narsai, On Joseph 411; Beck, Sermones ii, ii.45–48). Eph-

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lessness54 of Potiphar’s wife: unlike the wife in Joseph Son of Jacob, this woman pushes herself into Joseph’s presence and flaunts herself right in front of him, a point that is thrice made for emphasis.55 Narsai’s image of Potiphar’s wife conforms to his own portrayal of other sinful women, as is made abundantly clear in his On the Reproof of Women. This memra is a tour de force of invective against Eve, the prototypical sinful woman,56 and her daughters.57 In the first long description of the wiles of sinful women,58 Narsai mentions their cosmetics,59 clothing, and footwear.60 Later in the memra, the sinful women stands shamelessly (狏‫ܝ‬焏‫)ܙܠܝܠ‬61 by the gates and in the streets in her finery,62 adorned on face and limbs;63 a human trap, who has been instructed by the Evil One how to ‘hide the gins in the bodily sense and […] how to set snares by the wink of her eyes’.64 Narsai intersperses his general description of the wiles of Eve’s daughters with several case studies. These are victim’s tales all, experiences of suffering

54

55

56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64

rem uses these terms separately, perhaps synonymously, while Narsai seems to use them together as a compound noun. See also Beck, Sermones i, ii.633; Beck, Sermones ii, ii.393. ‫ܐ‬煟‫ܚ‬熏‫ ܟ‬焏‫ ܕܠ‬which appears also in Narsai, On Joseph 427, 471; two lines which are identical, and which are used to introduce the speech of ‘that shameless infatuated woman’ (‫ܗ̇ܝ‬ ‫ܐ‬煟‫ܚ‬熏‫ ܟ‬焏‫ܐ ܕܠ‬狏‫)ܫܛܝ‬. The common and unique features of the various portrayals of Potiphar’s wife can be summarised as follows: clothes (Sinful Woman, 52, 85–86; Syriac History 16.1; Joseph Son of Jacob i.298–299 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 535]; Narsai, On Joseph 415; Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph, 481); cosmetics (Sinful Woman, 46, 48; Balai, On Joseph, iv.21 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84]; Narsai, On Joseph 411; Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph, 482); perfume (Sinful Woman, 87–88; Syriac History 16.1; Joseph Son of Jacob i.305 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536]; Narsai, On Joseph 413; Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph, 481); jewellery (Sinful Woman, 50; Joseph Son of Jacob i.306–307 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536]; Balai, On Joseph, iv.25 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84]; Narsai, On Joseph 413, 415; Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph, 482); sandals (Sinful Woman, 55–56); veil ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.301 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 535]); belt ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.300 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 535]); scours body (Narsai, On Joseph 413); hair ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.304 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536]; Narsai, On Joseph 412). Narsai describes her as standing naked like a harlot (‫ܐ‬狏‫ )ܙܢܝ‬in Eden (Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 21). E.g., Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 123 [62]. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 131–184 [66–92]. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 149 [75]. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 151 [76]. See Narsai, On Joseph 414 (given above), where Potiphar’s wife is described as standing before Joseph in her shamelessness (‫ܬ̇ܗ‬熏‫)ܙܠܝܠ‬. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 330–335 [165–168]. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 339–340 [170]. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 343–344 [172].

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each caused by women. First up to the stand is David, ‘witness[ing] how heavy [is] the blow’ from one of these women.65 This ‘hardy soul’ (焏‫ ܢܦܫ‬爟‫ )ܚܠܝ‬was bitten by the ‘fang of adultery’ (‫ܪܐ‬熏‫ ܕܓ‬焏‫)ܢܝܒ‬, producing a severe wound that did not completely heal while he lived.66 Likewise Eve brought down Naboth67 and Samson68 by the treachery of her daughters. These cautionary tales are presented to warn Narsai’s people,69 for if ‘Eve could break David, the Harp of the Spirit, who can stand firm before her strife?’.70 Narsai is stupefied by the generations of damage. ‘The heroes heard, the righteous listened, and the knowing ones were amazed at Eve doing such stupendous deeds in all generations’.71 When Narsai treats Joseph in On Reproof of Women, he takes pains to expose the treachery of Potiphar’s wife, and only incidentally explains that Joseph’s victory came about because of his strength of mind.72 This is, of course, in keeping with the tenor of a memra constructed to expose the wiles of woman, and for which David, Samson, and Naboth are more useful witnesses. Specifically, Narsai uses the episode with Potiphar’s wife to expose the beastly nature of women. Here Potiphar’s wife is a lioness, as in memra 70, but also a ‘bear’ (焏‫ )ܕܒ‬and a ‘leopardess’ (‫ܬܐ‬犯‫)ܢܡ‬.73 This outpouring of animal epithets is not just to be derisive, but is deserved, according to Narsai, because ‘her actions cry out concerning her that she is a beast’.74 For Narsai, what separates mankind from the beasts is their ‘rationality’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫)ܡܠܝܠ‬, their ability to think and make choices with ‘discernment’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ܘܫ‬犯‫)ܦ‬.75 Eve and her daughters 65 66 67 68 69

70 71 72 73

74 75

Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 186 [93]. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 186–192 [93–96]. Narsai draws on Psalms 38:5 and 8 to describe the foul festering wound caused by the bites of Eve. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 241–244 [121–122]. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 283–296 [142–148]. Also see Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 74 [37b], 309 [155a], 397–398 [199], where Narsai refers to his efforts to protect, warn and preserve ‘our people’ (爯‫)ܥܡ‬. Molenberg suggests that Narsai is either referring to Christians in general or specifically to priests (Molenberg, ‘Reproof of Eve’s Daughters’, 72; though on p. 75 she adds to this group ‘the ascetics who were engaged in a difficult struggle with their passions’). Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 193 [97]. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 295–296 [148]. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 280 [140b]. She is called a lioness in Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 261 [131a]; a bear in Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 263 [132a]; and a leopardess in Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 265 [133a]. Joseph is likened to a deer (焏‫ )ܛܒܝ‬who bolts and escapes the trap in Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 267 [134a]. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 270 [135b]. See also Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 29 [15a], which tells how the Devil ‘took possession of [Eve’s] mind’; Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 49 [25b], which

making a syriac woman sinful (gen. 39)

189

lost this capacity because of their ‘wantonness’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫)ܙܠܝܠ‬76 and so deserve to be numbered among the beasts.77

Conclusions Kugel, in an effort to find the biblical crux that sparked this development, argues that the addition of a narrative expansion describing the adornment of Potiphar’s wife developed in the Jewish tradition as one explanation78 for the ‘after these things’ of Genesis 39:7. This is a crux that arises because of the seemingly anomalous order of the clauses in this verse, such that the ‘after these things’ seems to modify the clause introducing Joseph’s beauty (Gen. 39:6b) rather than the clause describing Joseph being made Potiphar’s steward (Gen. 39:6a).79 Therefore, Kugel argues, the narrative suggested to Jewish exegetes that Joseph’s beauty is first observed by Potiphar’s wife, who then adorns herself and, ‘after these things’, propositions Joseph. Such ‘reverse engineering’ is compelling if not conclusive.80 The Syriac texts may well have inherited the idea of adorning Potiphar’s wife from Jewish sources, but it is not clear that the same exegetical impetus was felt by the Syriac authors. The Syriac History, which once again appears to be the bridge between the two traditions, does not reveal the mind of its author on this point, though it is clearly the starting point from which one can plot the trajectory of this development in the Syriac tradition (on which see chapter 1).81 What is equally apparent though, is how the indigenous ‘Sinful Woman’ motif gives impetus to this trajectory, and exerts its influence on the portrayal of Potiphar’s wife. Consequently, as the use and character of the indigenous sin-

76 77

78 79 80 81

describes how Eve was ‘deprived of her mind’; Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 55–56 [28], which tells how Eve was entirely won over to ‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ ܙܠܝܠ‬leaving no place for ‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ܝܫ‬煟‫ܩ‬. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 272 [136b]. Note Isaac of Antioch’s observation in his homily On the Love of Learning that those who despise the discipline of learning resemble animals (Bedjan, Homiliae S. Isaaci, 5.7–18; cited in AbouZayd, ‘Isaac of Antioch on Learning and Knowledge’, 217). The other is the Assembly of Ladies motif, which Kugel describes and discusses at length (In Potiphar’s House, 28–65). Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 41–42. On Kugel’s idea of ‘reverse engineering’ to get at the exegetical crux that inspired a narrative expansion, see In Potiphar’s House, 251–253. Note that in the Syriac History of Joseph 15.1–19, Potiphar’s wife has already made one advance on Joseph before she resorts to adorning herself and making repeated advances.

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ful woman transforms, so does the construal of Potiphar’s wife, a fact that is most clearly observable in Narsai.82 Narsai’s On the Reproof of Women helps explain his portrayal of Potiphar’s wife in the memra on Joseph. Rather than revelling in his ingenious description of Potiphar’s wife, he is concerned to expose her for who she is: one of Eve’s daughters, her sister even. She dresses the same, wears the same cosmetics and perfume; she is motivated by the same beastly instincts, and is hungry for the same food. Narsai brings together and melds the various strains of Potiphar’s wife and sinful woman traditions into a cohesive whole, held together by his unwavering distrust of the wiles of women.83 Importantly, the homiletic imperative constrains but does not irradicate his engagement with the themes discussed in this chapter. The homilist can comfortably adorn their characters, but always with a clear parenetic intention. Narrative poets, on the other hand, can full exploit their creative capacities in making rich and compelling characters and scenes. 82 83

I discuss this point further in the following chapter. Molenberg argues that Narsai’s harshness has a protreptic purpose, intending to lead women to use their free will to choose repentance rather than lustfulness (Molenberg, ‘Reproof of Eve’s Daughters’, 72).

chapter 7

Scripting Seduction (Gen. 39:7–10) Lie with me.1

∵ In considering the attempt to seduce Joseph, Robert Alter observes that ‘the brevity of the sexual proposition on the part of Potiphar’s wife is a brilliant stylization—[but] she must have said more than that!’2 The Syriac tradition certainly reflects this belief, and its authors are keen to recreate the tempting words, to script, as it were, both seduction and continence. The biblical narrative gives the basic tripartite structure for Potiphar’s wife’s attempt to seduce Joseph. First Joseph is propositioned and then refuses (Gen. 39:7–9), then he is subjected to a prolonged period of repeated advances (Gen. 39:10), and finally he is grabbed and flees (Gen. 39:11–12). This latter scene and its aftermath will be dealt with in the following chapter. Here the concern is with how the texts develop the initial and subsequent advances of Joseph’s mistress. Ambrose observes that temptation begins with the eyes and then moves on to the words, though he reassures his audience by observing that ‘one who is not seduced by the eyes can resist the word’.3 Therefore the preparation of the temptress discussed above is the real beginning of the temptation, because the first thing Potiphar’s wife needed to do was to get Joseph to look at her. Narsai’s temptress knows this trick and immediately after adorning herself cries out to Joseph not ‘Lie with me’ (Gen. 39:7), but ‘Look at me’: ‘Look at me Joseph, I am beautiful and very fine, and I am desirable’.4 The reason for this different cry

1 Gen. 39:7. 2 Alter, Art of Biblical Narrative, 73. 3 Ambrose, On Joseph, 5.23. Note also Ambrose’s interesting observation that Joseph is not to blame for attracting the gaze of Potiphar’s wife: ‘If any woman gazes with wanton eyes, the sin is attributable only to her who cast the wicked glance, not to him who did not wish to be looked upon with wicked intent, and there is no guilt in the fact that he was looked upon’ (On Joseph, 5.22). 4 Narsai, On Joseph 417–418.

© Kristian S. Heal, 2023 | doi:10.1163/9789004526969_009

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is suggested in On Reproof of Women. Narsai claims that the Devil’s method of choice, his modus operandi, is to attack mankind through the ‘visible senses’ (焏‫ ܓܠ̈ܝ‬焏‫)ܪܓܫ‬,5 and thus it was through her senses, specifically her sense of hearing, that he committed adultery with Eve, an idea also found in Ephrem.6 Therefore it comes as no surprise to learn that the Devil directed his attack against Joseph’s ‘bodily senses’ (‫ܐ‬犯‫ ܦܓ‬營‫)ܪܓܫ‬.7 Again, though Narsai’s presentation of this scene is well grounded in his broader worldview, both spiritual and physical, he does appear to be following the lead of Joseph Son of Jacob, which has Potiphar’s wife say, ‘Look at me well, O son of the Hebrews, and see how desirable and fair is the beauty of my face’.8 Narsai, however, strikes out on his own in imagining the first movements in this temptation scene by adding that Potiphar’s wife also offered the gentle seduction of food and drink—but Joseph ‘was not pleased to eat with her’ and ‘despised [her wine] and threw [it and thus] her lustfulness to the ground’.9 Joseph Son of Jacob adds at this point that Potiphar’s wife would call out to Joseph two or three times a day, but he did not respond, nor did he look at her.10 Narsai, however, endows these repeated advances with a bit more life. He reports her frustration at seeing that her efforts to invite or engage with Joseph were met with silence.11 When she stares at him, he turns his gaze ‘towards heaven’ (焏‫ ܪܘܡ‬營̈‫ܦ‬焏‫)ܠ‬,12 and when ‘she gestures to him’ (煿‫ܐ ܠ‬熟‫)ܪܡ‬, he shakes his head and leaves.13 Nevertheless, whatever task Joseph is engaged in, she follows him everywhere, and refuses to be anywhere else but with him.14 Her insistence is consistent with Narsai’s view of Eve’s daughters, whose ‘mind[s

5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14

Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 23 [12]. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 25 [13] specifies that Eve committed adultery through the sense of hearing, on which see Ephrem, Commentary on the Diatessaron, iv.15; in Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 49–50 [25] Eve commits intercourse with the Devil in her mind, producing the venom of death. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 260 [130b]. Joseph Son of Jacob i.310–311 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536). Narsai, On Joseph 419–420. Joseph Son of Jacob i.312–313 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536). Narsai, On Joseph 422–423. See Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 70 [35b], where 焏‫ ܪܘܡ‬營̈‫ ܐܦ‬is the place to which the angels flee from the sin of Eve. Molenberg renders this phrase as, ‘the surface of heaven’. Narsai, On Joseph 423–424. Narsai, On Joseph 425–426. Compare Syriac History of Joseph 15.1: ‘Now, as Joseph came and went his mistress watched him’.

scripting seduction (gen. 39:7–10)

193

are] addicted night and day15 to the desire of the flesh and [whose] thoughts are engaged in the study of lustfulness’.16 Thus, in both Joseph Son of Jacob and Narsai, elements of the first two phases of temptation are included without Joseph ever making a verbal response. It seems that so long as Potiphar’s wife’s speech was a proposition or a gesture, all Joseph was required to do was to ignore her and it. Balai echoes these sentiments, though expressing them in more poetic terms. On seeing the snares that Potiphar’s wife laid out to catch his eye, ‘His eyes acquired wings, and they flew in the air towards his Lord’.17 He continues with a new metaphor: ‘[Joseph’s] eye abstained from gazing, lest when it partook it became corrupted. He would rebuke it (eye) that even if it is hungry, it should not partake of it least it perish’.18 Only at this point does Potiphar’s wife attempt to verbally persuade Joseph. Joseph Son of Jacob introduces the conversation by labelling the speakers; Potiphar’s wife is said to open her mouth like ‘a viper’ (焏‫ܢ‬煟‫)ܐܟ‬19 to speak to Joseph ‘the pure and the chaste’.20 Narsai is more aware of the domestic implications of Potiphar’s wife making a verbal advance, since this would obviously expose her intentions to others in the house. Therefore, he refers to Potiphar’s wife as being ‘a wanton woman’ (‫ܐ‬狏‫)ܫܛܝ‬,21 because she is ‘not ashamed (‫ܬܐ‬煿̇‫ ܒ‬焏‫ )ܠ‬of those who were listening’.22 It is only Balai, however, who states explicitly what is implicit in Joseph Son of Jacob and Narsai, namely that Potiphar’s wife has seen that her adornments have failed, and so brings words to her aid.23 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Narsai often uses the phrase 爟‫ ܐܝܡ‬營‫( ܠܠ‬though, probably for metrical reasons, never in the opposite order as in Ps. 1:2) to express constant activity. See Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 175 [88a], for the constant combat of women against men; Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 314 [157b], on Eve’s constant communication with the Evil One. Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 51–52 [26]. Balai, On Joseph iv.29–30 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84). Balai, On Joseph iv.33–36 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84). There are clear echoes of Matt. 5:29. See Joseph Son of Jacob i.389 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 540). Also Hymns on Paradise vii.7, where Delilah is similarly denominated. Joseph Son of Jacob i.313–314 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536). See chapter 6 above for a discussion of the epithets applied to Joseph. This verb, and its participle forms, often has connotations of sexual infidelity (Payne Smith, Compendious Dictionary, 573). Narsai, On Joseph 427–428. Balai, On Joseph, iv.37–38 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 84). Again, Balai introduces the subsequent dialogue more figuratively: ‘She let flow the flood of her words, to overthrow the bulwark of the chaste one. The waves returned, but the bulwark stood firm, because his foundations were upon the rock (Matt. 7:24–25), The modest one had put on modesty, and

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Genesis

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Sees Joseph Adornment Non-verbal proposition/contact Non-verbal rejection Repeated non-verbal proposition Repeated non-verbal rejection Initial verbal Proposition Verbal rejection Further verbal proposition(s) Further verbal rejection(s) Prayer Entrapment Final non-verbal proposition Final verbal proposition/contact Final verbal rejection Joseph Runs

1

Syriac History 1 5 2

Balai

Joseph Son of Jacob

1 2 3

1 2

1 2

4

4

4 5

[7]

6

2

3

5

3 4

4 6

6

5 6

8 11

7

9

8

10 12

Narsai

7 8

9 10

3

3

5

7

6

8

7 10

9 10 11

8

12

9 11

13

Before analysing the content of these seductive speeches, it will be useful to represent schematically the various ways that Gen. 39:7–10 is construed:24 As can be seen, Joseph Son of Jacob, Balai, and Narsai each begin their construal of Gen. 39:7–10 with Joseph offering a non-verbal response to Potiphar’s wife’s initial attempts at seduction, whether verbal or non-verbal. Narsai is alone in developing the idea of a series of non-verbal propositions. The Syriac

24

was wearing it like a long coat. She unsheathed her tongue as a sword, to rend apart his robes with the tumult’ (Balai, On Joseph, iv.41–48 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 85]). I have indicated in the table the order in which the various events occur.

scripting seduction (gen. 39:7–10)

195

History on the other hand, though equally elaborate, takes a slightly different course. There is an initial proposition, with a reply from Joseph (cf. Gen. 39:7– 9), followed by an extended period in which Potiphar’s wife, adorned and perfumed, makes daily attempts at seduction, one of which is given in extenso (cf. Gen. 39:10). Thus, in the Syriac History, Potiphar’s wife makes no separate and distinct effort to entice Joseph with her beauty and her gestures. Instead, her first step is to persuade Joseph dialogically, which she does after ordering him ݀ ‫)ܥܦܩ‬, ‘kissed’ (‫ܗ‬狏 ݀ ‫)ܢܫܩ‬, into ‘her private room’ (煿̇‫ܢ‬熏‫)ܩܝܛ‬, and ‘embraced’ (狏 ݀ ‫)ܚܒܒ‬.25 This suggests that this text is operating with a and ‘caressed him’ (‫ܗ‬狏 different set of assumptions from those that follow, and it is not improbable that it is the Syriac sinful woman tradition that is the distinguishing factor. The speeches and dialogues take place at different times and in different orders; however, there are clear lines of continuity running through the texts, even when structural elements suggest thorough independence. Therefore, I think it most useful to engage in a comparative analysis of the speeches and dialogues of Joseph and his mistress, and to isolate and treat separately the particular arguments that are used by Potiphar’s wife to seduce, and by Joseph to resist seduction.26

Arguments Marshalled by Potiphar’s Wife (P1–12) P1 A Mistress’s Right (Syriac History of Joseph, Jacob of Serugh) In the Syriac History, Potiphar’s wife asserts her rights with respect to Joseph while molesting him. She reminds him that since he is her servant and she his mistress she has power ‘to do with [him] anything that is pleasing in [her] eyes’.27 This argument is renewed later when Joseph is told that he is powerless and cannot get out of doing her will.28 See the response in J1 below. Jacob of Serugh has Joseph’s mistress assert her right to compel and be obeyed.29

25 26

27 28 29

Syriac History of Joseph 15.4. This is the most physical engagement that the authors imagine before the final scene. I shall also include in this discussion the dialogue that takes place in the entrapment scene, which is discussed in more detail below. A discussion of how the individual texts work as a whole, and how they relate to the broader tradition will be included in the editions and translations of the Syriac History, Joseph Son of Jacob and Narsai that are in preparation. Syriac History of Joseph 15.4. Syriac History of Joseph 16.3. Jacob, On Joseph iv.117–122.

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P2 I Am a Wanton Woman (Balai, Jacob of Serugh) Balai develops a novel motif that governs much of the dynamics of the dialogue between Joseph and his mistress. Instead of construing Potiphar’s wife as a mistress who has a right to demand what she will of her servants (see P1 above), Balai’s portrayal of the mistress acknowledges her depravity from the very start. This elicits the same response from Joseph (see J1 below), but it is quite different from the other approaches to this dialogue. Thus, Potiphar’s wife opens her dialogue by declaring that, ‘I took no trouble to preserve my propriety (‫ܪܘܬܝ‬焏‫’)ܚ‬.30 She knew that Joseph had already noticed her behaviour and rejected both her and her non-verbal advances,31 and so she decided to throw caution to the wind arguing, ‘if you preserve your chastity, you will destroy the appearance (焏‫ )ܕܪܓ‬of my freedom (‫ܪܘܬܐ‬焏‫’)ܚ‬.32 Potiphar’s wife continues on this tack even after Joseph’s faithful response (see J1 below). ‘It is well known that you are a modest man’,33 she replies, attempting by this admission to undermine some of the strength of his position. And then she plays her trump card—she will convince Joseph that because she is ‘a wanton woman’ (‫ܐ‬狏‫)ܙܠܝܠ‬, if he ‘let (his) mind have intercourse with (her), (his) thoughts will not be found at fault’.34 ‘The disgrace is entirely mine’ she continues, ‘for I am eager for iniquity’.35 However, after such an open admission she begins to flag, seeing that Joseph not only remains resolute, but holds her in contempt.36 Almost reflectively she recalls that she used to say to her husband, ‘Your slave is worthy of freedom’; but now, she admits, ‘I have learned of a more profound state, better than the state of freedom. For I stand, in my impudence, begging for something that exposes me. Are you not the most modest among men, and I the most wanton among women? I am the daughter of nobles and you are a slave, (but) you are the honourable one and I am the harlot (‫ܐ‬狏‫’)ܙܢܝ‬.37 A variation of this argument appears in Jacob of Serugh, where Potiphar’s

30 31 32

33 34 35 36 37

Balai, On Joseph iv.49 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 85). Balai, On Joseph iv.50–54 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 85). Balai, On Joseph iv.56 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 85). See Naeh, ‘Freedom and Celibacy’, 76–83 for a discussion of ‫ܪܘܬܐ‬焏‫ ܚ‬as both the ‘freedom’ to act enjoyed by those with elite status and sexual ‘propriety’ they are expected to display. On page 78, Naeh treats this passage, noting that the scene is ‘built entirely on the tensions between the different meanings of that word, between the sense of freedom and social status and the sense of modesty and sexual abstinence’. Balai, On Joseph iv.106 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 87). Balai, On Joseph iv.108–110 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 87). Balai, On Joseph iv.111–112 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 87). Balai, On Joseph iv.129 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88). Balai, On Joseph iv.121–128 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 87–88).

scripting seduction (gen. 39:7–10)

197

wife argues that she is the one descending from nobility, the one falling from greatness to be with him.38 P3

Be My Lord and Husband (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Narsai) In the Syriac History, Joseph’s mistress undermines his propriety argument (J1 below) by agreeing with him: ‘Far be it from you to be a slave to me. Rather, be like a lord to me and I will be like a maidservant to you. For, it is right for you to be my head and I will be like the wife of your youth. Take me, come, lie with me,39 and instead of a servant I will make you a lord. For to you, lordship and freedom are fitting, but to your mistress servitude and obedience’;40 see the response in J5 below.41 In Joseph Son of Jacob, Potiphar’s wife enlarges this offer saying, ‘Now, instead of a servant, be a king and lord of the house … And be mine and I and whatsoever belongs to me is yours’.42 This offer is reiterated in her last speech. Potiphar’s wife promises Joseph ‘by the lives of [his] fathers’43 that if he will only ‘accept (her) advice and have intercourse with (her),’ then he would ‘become a lord and a ruler over everything’.44 In Narsai, Potiphar’s wife also promises Joseph that he could become her husband and the master of the house (see also P8 below).45 In her final attempt to persuade him, however, she promises, if he will only submit, to make him not only her husband and master of her house, but ‘head and lord of all Egypt’.46 What is not clear is whether Potiphar’s wife is inviting Joseph to play the role of her husband in a sexual game or proposing the actual usurpation of her husband. The arguments in P2

38 39 40 41

42 43 44

45 46

Jacob, On Joseph iv.102–107. It is characteristic of the Syriac History to incorporate text from the Peshitta in a much expanded context. Syriac History of Joseph 15.6–7. Joseph’s visceral reaction to this statement suggests that the idea would have been startling, thus more effectively conveying the idea of wantonness. See Testament of Joseph 3:2, in which Potiphar’s wife says, ‘You will be Lord of me and all that is mine, if you will give yourself to me, and you will be as our master’ (Hollander and de Jonge, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, 374). Note that Joseph also interjects at this point in the Testament of Joseph (5:2). Joseph Son of Jacob i.325, 327 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537). Joseph Son of Jacob i.347 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 538). Joseph Son of Jacob i.348–349 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 538). In chapter 2 I discuss how these promises may intentionally resonate with the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. Narsai, On Joseph 436. Narsai, On Joseph 461–462.

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and P5 suggest the former, whereas the plan to murder Potiphar in P8 below, strongly suggests the latter. P4 I Have an Unlimited Treasure (Narsai) Narsai extends P3 by adding the temptation of ‘riches and possessions’.47 Joseph need not be embarrassed or upset because he is a slave.48 All he need do is perform his mistress’ will and she will also ‘make [him] master of [her] riches and [her] possessions’.49 She then informs Joseph that she possesses ‘an enormous treasure that is unlimited’, and Joseph will be heir to this secret treasure if he will do her will.50 P5 Be a Free Man (Syriac History of Joseph) Freedom is offered in exchange for compliance as an extension of the previous argument in the Syriac History. ‘To you, lordship and freedom are fitting’ says Joseph’s mistress.51 In their final confrontation, his mistress swears by the life of Pharaoh that she will ‘write a deed of freedom’ (‫ܪܘܬܐ‬焏‫ ܚ‬燿‫ ܠ‬焏‫ܒܢ‬狏‫ )ܟ‬for him and tear up ‘the deed of slavery’ if he will only sleep with her (see also P9 and P11 below).52 P6

How Can You Not Want to Lie With Me (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob) In response to Joseph’s second refusal in the Syriac History (which mirrors Gen. 39:8–9), Potiphar’s wife is incredulous, believing firmly that Joseph must be motivated by baser instincts as are other men. She protests that of course, he does actually want to lie with her, in fact, she knows ‘in [her] heart that [he] also earnestly desire[s] to sleep with [her]’ because of the fact that ‘men are usually the ones seducing and persuading women in order to sleep with them, and not women the men’.53 Joseph Son of Jacob opens with a variation on this theme. Potiphar’s wife does not assume that Joseph has base intentions, but

47 48 49 50 51 52

53

Narsai, On Joseph 432. Narsai, On Joseph 429–430. Narsai, On Joseph 431–432. Narsai, On Joseph 436–438. Perhaps Narsai was inspired by the third temptation of Christ (Matt. 4:8–9). I’m grateful to Erin Walsh for this suggestion. Syriac History of Joseph 15.7. Syriac History of Joseph 16.4–5. I discuss the deed of slavery in chapter 5 above. The phrase ‘deed of freedom’ (‫ܪܘܬܐ‬焏‫ ܚ‬犯‫ )ܫܛ‬is used several times in Narsai, for example, Narsai memra 4 On the Nativity 242. Syriac History of Joseph 15.12–13. This is the very opposite sentiment of that expressed by Narsai.

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rather curses him for his impassibility, which she refers to as his ‘evil disposition’ (焏‫ܪܐ ܒܝܫ‬犏‫)ܝ‬.54 She blames his inability to be attracted to her nobility,55 excited by her beauty,56 or provoked by the sight of her (bare) limbs57 on the custom of the Hebrews, ‘the wicked nation; for they possess neither love nor affection towards each other’.58 P7

Do Not Be Afraid (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Narsai) In the Syriac History, Joseph’s mistress tells him not to be afraid of her saying, ‘Have I not humbled myself before you?’.59 She also tells him not to be afraid of his master (for her remedy to this problem see P8 below).60 Joseph Son of Jacob continues this theme, with Potiphar’s wife admonishing Joseph not to be afraid of his master,61 as well as not to be afraid to lie with her.62 Narsai follows this line of development, with Potiphar’s wife telling Joseph that ‘if [he is] afraid of Potiphar, the master of the house, [she] shall make [him] another escape and [he] need not be afraid’.63 P8

I Will Kill My Husband and Marry You (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Narsai) In the Syriac History, this phrase is an extension of P3 and P7. Joseph’s mistress offers to kill her husband by laying out ‘deadly poison’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ ܡ‬爟‫ )ܣ‬for him.64 Joseph Son of Jacob follows the Syriac History.65 In Narsai, Potiphar’s wife also

54

55 56 57

58

59 60 61 62 63 64 65

Joseph Son of Jacob i.319 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536). On this concept see Becker, ‘“Evil Inclination” of the Jews’; Brock, ‘Jewish Traditions’, 221; Rosen-Zvi, Demonic Desires; and Taylor, ‘ “Inclination” ( yaṣrā) in the Syriac Tradition’. Joseph Son of Jacob i.319 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536). Joseph Son of Jacob i.320 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536). Joseph Son of Jacob i.321 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536). In the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Joseph recalls that Potiphar’s wife would ‘bare her arms and thighs so that I might lie with her’ (9:5 [p. 387]). Also, Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 256 [128b], which mentions her limbs. Joseph Son of Jacob i.316–317 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536). This is reminiscent of Pliny’s observation (specifically of Essenes) of the remarkable national tendency of the Jews to have ‘no women and […] renounce all sexual desire’ (cited in Brown, Body and Society, 38). Syriac History of Joseph 15.13. Syriac History of Joseph 15.14. Joseph Son of Jacob i.323 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536). Joseph Son of Jacob i.326 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537). Narsai, On Joseph 433–434. Syriac History of Joseph 15.14. Joseph Son of Jacob i.324 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536).

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offers to poison her husband, but not at home, rather she promises to ‘send him poison and … kill him in the place that he is’.66 P9 Mocks Lack of Sense (Syriac History of Joseph) Joseph is mocked by his mistress for his obvious lack of wisdom, since he ‘love[s] slavery and loathe[s]67 freedom’, unlike all other people who yearn for freedom and flee from slavery. She then says, ‘Behold, I give you your freedom and want you to become a lord, but you have no sense in you’.68 P10

Take Gold and Silver and Give Alms to the Poor (Syriac History of Joseph) In the Syriac History, Potiphar’s wife counters Joseph’s fear of God argument (J2 below) by telling him that if he is afraid of sin then he should ‘take as much silver and gold as [he] wish[es] and give it to the poor, and God will forgive your folly’.69 P11 No One Is Here (Syriac History of Joseph) The Syriac history takes the circumstance described in Gen. 39:11 and puts it into the mouth of Joseph’s mistress as part of her last effort to persuade Joseph: ‘All of the slaves and servant women are outside and your lord is in Pharaoh’s house, and there is no one else here. Come, lie with me and be a freeman’ (see P3 above).70 P12 Ultimatum (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Narsai) In the Syriac History, the last argument set before Joseph is an ultimatum. His mistress is no longer willing to be refused in her own house and she offers Joseph two choices; either he will lie with her or, she says, ‘I will say before (Potiphar) that “the servant entered in upon me in order to lie with me”. Now choose that which is better in your eyes’.71 In Joseph Son of Jacob, the ultimatum

66 67 68 69 70

71

Narsai, On Joseph 435. Reading as the Pael of 犏‫ܓܥ‬, whereas peal means ‘to stare at’. The context suggests the more intensive meaning is intended. Syriac History of Joseph 16.6–8. The Syriac of the last phrase reads, 焏‫ ܗܘܢ‬燿‫ ܒ‬狏‫ܠܝ‬. Syriac History of Joseph 16.7. Syriac History of Joseph 17.5–6. Jewish tradition explains the absence of servants by say that this was a festival day (Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 96). The Syriac History is the only text to utilize this passage in the narrative, which it does here and in Potiphar’s wife’s accusation to Potiphar. Syriac History of Joseph 17.7–8.

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is self-slaughter: ‘If you will not carry out my desire, O son of the Hebrews, It would be better for me to die rather than stay alive with you around’.72 Narsai also concludes this scene with an ultimatum—either Joseph yield or his mistress will ‘imprison [him] in the deep pit of the prison’.73

Joseph’s Responses (J1–7) J1

Propriety (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Balai, Jacob of Serugh) In the Syriac History, Joseph rejects his mistress’s assertion of sexual rights in the name of propriety. He agrees that he is indeed her servant, and if, ‘you command me like a mistress (then) I will serve like a slave’.74 Potiphar’s wife responds to this argument in P3 above. Joseph Son of Jacob extends this argument: Joseph marvels that his mistress wishes to debase her nobility by loving a Hebrew slave.75 He therefore admonishes her to behave appropriately, for ‘it is not comely nor beautiful, neither for queens nor for noble women, that the lord and the servant be deemed by them to be of one level’.76 Balai responds to his mistress’s declaration of wantonness (P2 above) with some straight talking77 that turns on the need for propriety and a very real sense of the judgment (see J2 below) and providence of God (see J7 below). Propriety is not just a matter of will, he asserts, but of law: ‘I am a slave and you are the daughter of nobles, the law subjugates both me and you’.78 Since they are both subject to the law, he admonishes her to behave in accordance with her rank, as a daughter of nobles,79 and not allow the beauty she possesses to be held in ‘contempt’ (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ )ܫܝܛ‬by a ‘slave’ (焏‫)ܙܒܝܢ‬.80 He then gives an extended admonition on why is it important for her to ‘take a firm grasp and hold on to [her] honour’,81 72

73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81

Joseph Son of Jacob i.350–351 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 538). Note also Testament of Joseph 7:3: ‘And she said to me: I hang myself or I throw myself into a well or into a precipice if you do not let yourself be persuaded by me’. Also, in the Testament of Joseph 8:2, it is after this scene that Potiphar’s wife grabs Joseph coat. Narsai, On Joseph 459–460. Syriac History of Joseph 15.5. Joseph Son of Jacob i.330–333 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537). Joseph Son of Jacob i.336–337 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537). ‘Now that I know your desire, I will reveal my thoughts to you’ (Balai, On Joseph iv.60 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 85]). Balai, On Joseph iv.61–62 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 85). Balai, On Joseph iv.61 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 85). Balai, On Joseph iv.77–78 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86). Balai, On Joseph iv.89 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86).

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and preserve her nobility and love82 for the son of a noble man and not allow it to be mocked (‫ܚ‬熟‫ )ܒ‬or befouled (‫ܡ‬狏‫ )ܟ‬by a slave, for whom she would just be a conquest.83 Slaves should be obedient to their masters,84 he continues, and a slave and his master should not be treated the same—there is an order here that needs to be preserved, a sense of propriety that needs to be honoured, both for the slave and for the master.85 Jacob of Serugh has Joseph declare his obedience to his mistress only ‘in those things that are necessary’ and not in things that are inappropriate.86 Moreover, he is eager that his mistress not ‘lapse from the love of conjugal intercourse’, but ‘stay a noble woman’.87 J2

Fear of God and His Judgment (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Balai, Narsai, Jacob of Serugh) In the Syriac History, Joseph says explicitly that ‘the God of Heaven forbids me to do this thing’.88 Later Joseph refuses his mistress for fear that ‘God would not deliver [him] from bondage and return [him] beneath the wings of [his] father’.89 Finally, Joseph acknowledges that he and his whole family ‘fear God (too much) to behave shamefully or commit fornication. For God judges those who commit adultery, and murderers, with fire’.90 These arguments are responded to in P8 above. In Joseph Son of Jacob, Joseph is concerned not to ‘commit treachery before God’.91 Joseph’s final response to his mistress reiterates his commitment not ‘to sin and enrage the Lord my God and act treacherously’.92 Balai has a keen sense of the judgment and punishment of God. ‘My fear of 82

83

84 85

86 87 88 89 90 91 92

‘Keep your nobility for the son of nobles; let your love look out for your husband. Let not a stranger fill the role of your true husband’ (Balai, On Joseph iv.91–94 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86]). Balai, On Joseph iv.79–94 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86). Note, in particular, the lines, ‘This would be a proud thing for a slave, to mock the bed of his master’ (Balai, On Joseph iv.87– 88 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86]). Balai, On Joseph iv.96 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 87). Balai, On Joseph iv.101–104 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 87). It would be interesting to know whether the dynamics of Balai’s development of the social distinctions in this scene reflect contemporary discourse or legislation. However, I have not been able to discover evidence to confirm or reject this idea. Jacob, On Joseph iv.96–100. Jacob, On Joseph iv.110, 114, 116. Syriac History of Joseph 15.9. Syriac History of Joseph 15.16. Syriac History of Joseph 15.17. Joseph Son of Jacob i.341 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537). Joseph Son of Jacob i.353 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 538). ‘Treachery’ (焏‫ )ܢܟܠ‬is construed with the verb 犯‫ ܣܥ‬in Joseph Son of Jacob i.341 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537) and 煟‫ܥܒ‬ in Joseph Son of Jacob i.353 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 538).

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God is like a leather strap striking the impetuousness of my sins’,93 says Joseph, and therefore he ‘restrain[s his] desire’ and is ‘a stranger to [his] appetite’.94 He knows that he would anger God through any sinful act with his mistress,95 and therefore will not even ‘incline [his] ears towards [her]’.96 His final speech to his mistress reiterates this close connection between a heightened sense of the extreme severity of God’s punishments,97 and inescapable judgment that awaits all sinners,98 and Joseph’s determination to not have ‘anything more to do with [her] sin’.99 In Narsai, Joseph affirms, ‘I have a glorious king who lives on high, and if he sees me doing this he will despise me’.100 Jacob of Serugh has Joseph protest that he is not willing to lose his standing before God.101 Moreover, his obedience is due to his ‘hidden master’, who loves chastity.102 J3

Religious Values (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Balai, Narsai) In the Syriac History, Joseph’s protestations reflect his religious values: ‘You wanting me to sleep with you—it is a great wrong’ (焏‫ ܪܒ‬焏‫ܠ‬熏‫;)ܥ‬103 ‘I will never (焏‫ ܠ‬爟‫ )ܠܥܠ‬lie with you nor will I defile (焏‫ )ܡܦܠܦܠܢ‬my body in the mire (焏‫ )ܣܝܢ‬of fornication’.104 Joseph Son of Jacob, likewise, has Joseph speak from his convictions when he admonishes his mistress not to let ‘licentiousness (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ )ܙܠܝܠ‬come between you and [your husband]’.105 In Balai, Joseph’s convictions are expressed in terms of his fear of God and God’s judgment (J3 above). In Narsai, Joseph’s response to P3 and P4 seem to be contingent upon his religious outlook. He rejects the notion of obtaining wealth by bloodshed,106 and renounces the treasure that evil bestows on its servants.107 Then he expresses his feelings about adultery, refusing to ‘forge a wicked deceit against an innocent man’, or ‘sully the pure bed of conjugal union’.108 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108

Balai, On Joseph iv.75–76 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86). Balai, On Joseph iv.73–74 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86). Balai, On Joseph iv.97–100 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 87). Balai, On Joseph iv.141 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88). Balai, On Joseph iv.144 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88). Balai, On Joseph iv.145–148 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88). Balai, On Joseph iv.151–152 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88). Narsai, On Joseph 447–448. Jacob, On Joseph iv.108–112, 116. Jacob, On Joseph iv.123–130. Syriac History of Joseph 15.10. Syriac History of Joseph 17.11. Joseph Son of Jacob i.335 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537). Narsai, On Joseph 441, 444. Narsai, On Joseph 443. Narsai, On Joseph 445–446.

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J4

Respect for Jacob and the Ways of His Family (Syriac History of Joseph) In the Syriac History, Joseph argues that his father is an upright man (焏‫ܢ‬焏‫)ܟ‬ and that Joseph and the whole lineage of his fathers ‘hold fast to purity (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ )ܕܟܝ‬and chastity (‫ܬܐ‬熏‫ܝܫ‬煟‫ )ܩ‬and [that they] fear God (too much) to behave shamefully (‫ܐܪܐ‬熏‫ܚ ܟ‬熏‫ )ܕܢܦܠ‬or commit fornication (see J2 above)’.109 J5

Concern for Potiphar (Syriac History of Joseph, Joseph Son of Jacob, Balai, Jacob of Serugh) (Response to P2, P3 and P5.) In the Syriac History, Joseph argues that he cannot lie with Potiphar’s wife and ‘despise the bed of my master (who had said to him), “I make you a ruler over everything I have, except your mistress”’.110 Later he protests, ‘My master treated me kindly and gave me authority over his household. Now, how can I repay the kindness he did for me with evil’.111 Joseph Son of Jacob only develops this defence by having Joseph emphasize that Potiphar warned him particularly about his mistress.112 Balai mentions Potiphar mostly in connection with his mistress, stressing that she should be concerned about her husband. He does, however, note that both Potiphar and God would be agitated (‫ )ܙܘܥ‬by him if he yielded to this sinful act.113 Jacob of Serugh has Joseph protest that he does not want to become a ‘betrayer and hater’ of his master.114 Joseph is also eager that his mistress ‘stays true to her husband’ and ‘stay on the path with her companion’.115 J6 Warning Against Satan (Syriac History of Joseph) In the Syriac History, Joseph warns his mistress that ‘Satan116 schemes to do away with [her] by the murder of [his] master’.117

109

110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117

Syriac History of Joseph 17.7–8. Kugel discusses several Jewish traditions in which either the memory of Jacob and his teachings or a vision of Jacob kept Joseph from yielding to his mistress (In Potiphar’s House, 98–120). Syriac History of Joseph 15.9. Syriac History of Joseph 15.15. Joseph Son of Jacob i.338–339 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537). Balai, On Joseph iv.97 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 87). Jacob, On Joseph iv.101. Jacob, On Joseph iv.111–112. In the Syriac History, Satan is twice identified as the guiding force behind the actions of Joseph’s mistress. Syriac History of Joseph 15.18.

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J7 Trust in God (Syriac History of Joseph, Balai, Narsai) In the Syriac History, Joseph first admonishes his mistress to, ‘be patient and the God of my fathers will take care of this business’.118 Then, when given a final ultimatum (see P12 above), Joseph affirms that ‘the God who sent me aid and brought me up from the cistern, he will send me redemption. For I know that God will not despise the tears and prayers of my father Jacob’.119 Balai’s sense of divine providence is tempered with a keen sense of God’s judgment (see J2). Joseph rejects any implicit idea that he could obtain freedom through this action (implicit in Balai, but explicit in the tradition), rather he affirms that he will not ‘break the yoke of [his] slavery until [his] God loosens it’.120 He is content with being a slave, though ‘not a slave who sins everyday’,121 since he knows that things could be much worse if he sinned,122 and also that his slavery has a purpose.123 In Narsai, Joseph expresses his trust in God through prayer: ‘You brought me up out of the pit where Reuben threw me, and you rescued me from the sabre which was sharpened. You brought me into Egypt by your great power: now rise up and help me against this Egyptian woman’.124

Conclusions It is worth noting how the elements included in the temptations and responses vary between the Syriac History and Narsai. Out of the seven responses developed by the Syriac History, only three are used by Narsai, and each of these revolve around devotion to, or fear of God. Conversely, Narsai reproduces most of the traditional temptations and even develops an entirely new variation on the wealth temptation. I am inclined to see this development as another consequence of these retellings taking on a more emphatically admonitory role in the homiletic genre. In Narsai, it is more important that Joseph’s refusal and his devotion to God are inextricably linked, and that this scene teaches those who hear it the importance of resisting and avoiding sinful women. This trajectory is developed further in the Syriac tradition and is institutionalized in the dialogue poems between Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. These 118 119 120 121 122 123 124

Syriac History of Joseph 15.19. Syriac History of Joseph 17.9–10. Balai, On Joseph iv.63–64 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 85). Balai, On Joseph iv.72 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86). Balai, On Joseph iv.67–68 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 85–86). Balai, On Joseph iv.69–70 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86). Note especially, ‘I will be patient until it is perfected (爟‫ܠ‬狏‫( ’)ܡܫ‬Balai, On Joseph iv.70 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86]). Narsai, On Joseph 451–454.

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poems are abstractions of the tradition of narrative poetry rather than being entirely new mediations on scripture, or, indeed, the basis of the dialogues in the narrative poems. The earliest of the surviving dialogues between Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (Text 16) develops Joseph’s rejection in Genesis, but clearly reads the biblical narrative through the lens of the tradition. For example, Potiphar’s wife asks if she is insufficiently adorned or perfumed (v. 10), elements discussed in the previous chapter. She also uses the themes of the empty house (P11 in v. 6) and the promise of freedom (P5 in v. 8), suggesting that the author of this dialogue poem was aware of the Syriac History of Joseph. In the dialogue poem Joseph Rejects His Mistress (Text 18), Potiphar’s wife hurls a series of propositions at Joseph, to which he repeatedly responds, ‘No no no no no no no no no no no no, I will not do your will!’ Thus, Joseph’s single reply is deemed an adequate response to a varied battery of temptations, including an offer to make Joseph a king in Egypt (as Joseph Son of Jacob in P3 above), to poison Potiphar (P8 above), and to offer up idols (‫ܐ‬狏‫ )ܨܠܡ‬to the Lord (variation on P10 above). In exasperation, Joseph finally responds even more emphatically, swearing by the God of all that he will indeed not do his mistress’s will:

營‫ ܠܟ‬焏‫ ܐܢ‬焏‫ ܝܡ‬焏‫ ܟܠ‬煿‫ܠ‬焏‫ܒ‬

.焏‫ ܐܢ‬煟‫ ܥ̇ܒ‬焏‫ܐ ܕܠ‬狏‫ܐܘ ܫܛܝ‬

焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ܠ‬ 焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ܠ‬ ‫ ܀‬營‫ ܨܒܝܢܟ‬焏‫ ܐܢ‬煟‫ ܥ̇ܒ‬焏‫ ܠ‬焏‫ܠ‬ By the God of All, I swear to you, O silly infatuated woman that I will not do, No no no no no no no no No no no no no no no no, No, I will not do your will.125 These dialogue poems seem to belong more closely to the homiletic genre than narrative poetry. There is a simplicity and repetition to the arguments that suggests the objective is not creative development of the scene, though that certainly happens, but admonitory, advocating correct practice. They draw from the narrative tradition but tend towards the parenetic aims of the homily genre. 125

I take this text from the Cambridge manuscript, which has 8 syllable lines throughout this final verse. Mengozzi and Ricossa, ‘Folk Spontaneity’, 167–168, publish their text from Baghdad, Church of the East Ms. 6.

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Entrapment and Betrayal (Gen. 39:11–20) Only to paraphrase the History of this Delivery, without amplifying were furniture and food enough for a meditation of the best perseverance, and appetite, and digestion; yea, the least word in the History would serve a long rumination. john donne1

∵ After the visual and verbal temptations proffered by Potiphar’s wife, the last temptation is fundamentally physical. This is the scene favoured in artist’s depictions of Joseph; his escape to moral victory in response to the final attempt at seduction, or, with Ephrem, the moment when Joseph ‘stripped off and cast away the lust that flared up among the senseless’.2 I have already discussed above the dialogue that was exchanged in this scene. Here I will consider how Joseph ended up alone with his mistress and how this final confrontation was initiated and their struggle described.3 There are two different approaches taken to the question of culpability in the final assault. In the Syriac History, Joseph has already warned his mistress that she was acting under Satan’s influence.4 Now the narrator specifically identifies Satan as the instigator of this final encounter, for ‘Satan was stirring up and troubling the Egyptian woman’.5 In the final struggle, it was ‘Satan [who] entered into her’, making her rush forward and grab Joseph tightly.6 Ephrem

1 Simpson, John Donne: Selected Prose, 79. Donne is referring specifically to the Exodus narrative, but the sentiment seems apposite to the Syriac reflections on Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. 2 Hymns on Paradise vii.7. 3 There is no attempt in the Syriac tradition to explain why there were no servants in the house (Gen. 39:11). Jewish sources develop the tradition of the attack being on a festival day (Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 43 esp. n. 26, which gives references). 4 Syriac History of Joseph 15.18. 5 Syriac History of Joseph 16.9. 6 Syriac History of Joseph 17.12. Joseph Son of Jacob does not include this motif in the narrative, but in an apostrophe subsequent to Joseph’s flight the author comments that, ‘The Chief

© Kristian S. Heal, 2023 | doi:10.1163/9789004526969_010

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does not discern an unseen hand guiding Potiphar’s wife, but instead notes that she herself planned and orchestrated (‘cunningly she caused him to enter the inner room’) the final effort ‘to overpower him’ after ‘she had had enough of contriving ways to catch him’.7 Likewise, in Balai, when Joseph’s mistress sees that she is held in contempt, her feelings for Joseph seem to devolve into an animal passion.8 She is like a bear, looking for the right moment to get her claws into ‘the abstinent one’.9 Thus, Joseph’s mistress plans an attack against the morally ‘steadfast’ (焏‫ )ܬܩܢ‬Joseph.10 In the Syriac History Potiphar’s wife instigates the final encounter, calling for Joseph and waiting for him as he goes up to her private room.11 In the other texts, the scene is imagined as one in which a predator is stalking a prey; thus in Joseph Son of Jacob and Narsai she follows Joseph into a room, and in Balai she is already waiting there for him. Both Balai (above) and Joseph Son of Jacob suggest that it was the steadiness and predictability of Joseph that made the attack possible. Thus in Joseph Son of Jacob, Joseph is going into an ‘inner room’ (焏‫ܢ‬熏‫‘ )ܩܝܛ‬as usual’ (‫ܗ‬煟‫ )ܒܥܝ‬in order to ‘carry out one of the tasks of his lord’s commanding’,12 when ‘that wilful one licentiously entered in after him’.13 Narsai increases the drama of the scene by having Joseph go into his

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11

12 13

of the Air hid a snare for you by the agency of Eve’ ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.369 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 539]). Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 35.1. Balai, On Joseph iv.129–130 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88). Balai, On Joseph iv.131–132 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88). Potiphar’s wife is also called ‘a bear’ (焏‫ )ܕܐܒ‬in Balai, On Joseph iv.157 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 89). Potiphar’s wife refers to Joseph as ‘a bear’ (焏‫ )ܕܐܒ‬in her accusation to her husband ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.406 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 540]). On Potiphar’s wife as a bear in the Rabbinic sources see, Witztum, Syriac Milieu of the Quran, 201 (esp. n 52 and 53). Balai, On Joseph iv.133–136 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88). Balai describes Joseph as ‘an innocent’ (焏‫ )ܫܦܝ‬in the very moment that he is walking into his mistress’s trap (Balai, On Joseph iv.135 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88]). It is, perhaps, not too surprising that Joseph is never seen as being at all culpable in Christian texts. The inviolability of Joseph’s virtue is also a staple of most early Jewish texts (Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 17–26), though some late antique Jewish traditions do call this into question (Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 94– 98). It is possible, though not necessary, that these later traditions helped galvanize the Christian position. Syriac History of Joseph 17.1. In typical style, this refashioning of the scene encases the verbiage of the Peshitta in a new interpretation. Thus Gen. 39:11, ‘And it came about one day ̈ 熏‫ ܝ‬爯‫ ܡ‬煟‫’)ܘܗܘܐ ܒܚ‬, becomes, ‘On one of the days she called him, and he went … (‫ܐ‬狏‫ܡ‬ ̣ ̈ 熏‫ ܝ‬爯‫ ܡ‬煟‫ܬܗ ܒܚ‬犯‫ܩ‬ up to her and entered into her private room (爏‫ܬ̇ܗ ܘܥ‬熏‫ ܠ‬犟‫ ܘܣܠ‬.爯‫ܡܝ‬ ̇煿‫ܢ‬熏‫( ’)ܠܩܝܛ‬Syriac History of Joseph 17.1). Joseph Son of Jacob i.342–343 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537). Joseph Son of Jacob i.343 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537).

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inner room to pray; his mistress then follows him in and locks the door behind her.14 Once behind closed doors, or ensconced in an inner room, Joseph is grabbed,15 or embraced and kissed.16 This scene is poignantly imagined in Properzia de’ Rossi’s The Chastity of Joseph. Joseph is resolute, with his back firmly to Potiphar’s wife, committed to striding away, while she holds on to his robe from behind. She is seated, though positioned to have maximum purchase on the robe, fully intending to pull Joseph back to her exposed body.17 In other renditions she is more benign and he more equivocating. Guercino’s Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife is a good example.18 Here, Joseph pushes away the outstretched arm of the reclining woman, fearing perhaps (with Ambrose) that ‘the incentives to lust might pass over him through the hands of the adulteress’.19 He looks heavenward, thinking, petitioning—it is not clear—while she gazes at him longingly. Though the efforts and responses are subtly different, in both cases the result is the same—so long as Joseph is determined to refuse, then Potiphar’s wife is powerless. As Ambrose puts it in his argument for Potiphar’s wife not being called the mistress of the house, ‘She did not have the power of one who rules, […] for she could not extort what she wanted to obtain’.20 Unlike Amnon and Tamar (2Sam. 13:11–14), whose experience is poignantly replicated in Bernini’s Pluto and Proserpina, Joseph’s seducer was not able to overpower him, and so he escapes, reducing his pursuer to exerting power over her husband in revenge.21 14 15

16 17

18 19 20 21

Narsai, On Joseph 455–456. Syriac History of Joseph 17.2; Joseph Son of Jacob i.355 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 538); Balai, On Joseph iv.137 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88). Using 燿‫ ܠܒ‬rather than the Peshitta’s 煟‫ܐܚ‬. Narsai, On Joseph 457. There is a proliferation of epithets applied to both Joseph and his mistress at moments of heightened drama. Vasari suggests that the intensity of the scene reflects the artist’s own experience of unrequited love with a younger man and that, ‘With this figure of the Old Testament [de Rossi] felt she had expressed in part her own most burning passion’ (Vasari, Lives of the Artists, 341). The editors do, however, express reservations about Vasari’s statement in the notes: ‘While male artists execute works without regard to their personal feelings throughout the Lives, Vasari seems unable to imagine a woman creating a work of art without a sentimental or romantic inspiration’ (ibid, 565). A useful overview of the life and work of de’ Rossi is found in Bluestone, ‘The Female Gaze’. Located in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Reproductions of this and other works depicting this scene can be found in Spear, Seeing Double. Ambrose, On Joseph, 5.25. Ambrose, On Joseph, 5.23. Robert Alter argues that the episode of Amnon and Tamar deliberately evokes Genesis 39 (Art of Biblical Narrative, 73).

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The authors in the Syriac tradition see the scene with artists’ eyes. In the Syriac History, when Potiphar’s wife hears Joseph’s final refusal, Satan enters into her22 and she rushes forward and again grabs Joseph tightly (狏‫ܐܝ‬犯‫)ܙܗܝ‬, clinging on to his clothes.23 At the sight of this bold act, Joseph trembles at her wantonness and fears (the possibility of?) fornication.24 In Joseph Son of Jacob, Joseph sees his mistress assaulting his chastity and escapes from her ‘like a deer from the trap of a hunter’,25 leaving ‘his clothes’ (煿‫ )ܠܒܫ‬in her hand and going out into ‘the street’ (焏‫ܩ‬熏‫)ܫ‬.26 In Balai, Joseph’s mistress does not speak during the final attack. Instead, once Joseph has been grabbed, the author portrays him as making every effort to turn his face away from his mistress.27 They stand like athletes in the contest,28 Joseph only outwitting his opponent by throwing his clothes over her face and fleeing, so that her hand could not grab his body.29 Balai’s construal of this scene is strikingly well visualized, with Joseph’s actions being consistent with what might be expected from the golden boy described earlier in this work.30 However, by invoking the image of the contest (焏‫ܢ‬熏‫)ܐܓ‬, the author places Joseph in a spiritual as well as a physical battle and his actions partake of the ascetic impulse towards Christian perfection.31 Narsai resorts neither to Joseph’s fleetness of foot ( Joseph Son of Jacob) nor his quick wittedness (Balai) to explain the escape from Potiphar’s wife. Rather, Narsai’s Joseph finds himself alone and helpless at the moment of the attack, and it is only when he receives divine help that he is able to shake off ‘the lioness’ and throw her down and quickly escape.32 22

23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

32

This does not appear to be a sexual reference. The Syriac reads 焏‫ ܣܛܢ‬煿̇‫ ܒ‬爏‫ܐܬܥܠ‬, where the verb 爏‫ ܥ‬is in the Ethpael conjugation. Almost the same phrase appears in John 13:27, which describes Satan entering into Judas at the last supper. Syriac History of Joseph 17.12. Syriac History of Joseph 17.13. Joseph Son of Jacob i.355–356 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 538). Joseph Son of Jacob i.358 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 538). The Syriac History of Joseph follows the Peshitta, but instead of escaping and going out into the street (焏‫ܩ‬熏̣‫)ܠܫ‬, Joseph simply escapes from her (煿̇‫ܩ ܡܢ‬犯‫( )ܥ‬Syriac History of Joseph 17.13). Balai, On Joseph iv.138–140 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88). Balai, On Joseph iv.153–154 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88). Balai, On Joseph iv.155–156 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88–89). See chapter 6 above. Vööbus, History of Asceticism, i.88: ‘A Christian is an athlete, a fighter, a warrior. The consciousness of being a tireless warrior was the hallmark of the Christian life. … The terms “contest” and “war” which find expression in both sermons and prayers, describe the proper sentiments in terms of Christian perfection’. See also, Murray, Symbols, 15–16, 198. Narsai, On Joseph 464–467. Joseph’s reliance on God is indicated in Joseph Son of Jacob, but in an internal soliloquy spoken by Joseph after the attack ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.372–382 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 539]; discussed below).

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Was Joseph Tempted to Yield? Tempted full sore, Lady of Egypt! Was thy witless slave: Now breaks he from thee, Better faith to save! sir edwin arnold33 There are a number of cases in the Syriac narratives where Joseph is viscerally affected by the advances of Potiphar’s wife, and where he seems almost overcome with fear.34 My concern in this section is to ask whether these experiences have anything to say about whether Joseph was actually ever tempted to yield to his mistress. This question seems to turn on whether there is any reason to doubt Joseph’s ability to withstand such a trial. Ambrose’s response is interesting. That Joseph did not yield is true; however, Ambrose seems to indicate that Joseph was self-aware enough to know that had he listened to her longer, or allowed her to touch him, he may have been aroused to sin, ‘therefore he stripped off the garment and cast off the sin’.35 The remainder of the early Christian tradition tends to be more unequivocal, following the sentiments expressed in the Testament of Joseph, where Joseph says boldly, ‘Not even in my mind did I yield to her’—though perhaps even the firmness of this statement is a reaction to more pessimistic treatments.36 The Syriac sources continue the trajectory of the Testament of Joseph, though acknowledging that Joseph was actively exerting effort to resist his mistress’s advances. The Syriac History appears to see in the Bible’s ‘but he was not listening to her’ (煿̇‫ ܗܘܐ ܠ‬牟‫ ܫ̇ܡ‬焏‫ )ܘܠ‬evidence of Joseph’s struggle to overcome his bodily desires (Gen. 39:10). When repeatedly propositioned by his adorned mistress, Joseph ‘was very strong (爯‫ )ܡܚܡܣ‬and resisted (‫ܫ ܗܘܐ‬狏‫ܟ‬狏‫ )ܡ‬the desire of his body’.37 After a verbal onslaught, the author of the Syriac History observes in similar language that ‘Joseph continually restrained himself and strove against his desire’.38 And finally, when Joseph sees his mistress’s bold33 34

35 36 37 38

Potiphar’s Wife, stanza 47. For example, in the Syriac History, when Joseph is first propositioned, he ‘was exceedingly afraid (‫ܐ‬狏‫ܐ ܪܒ‬狏‫ ܕܚܠ‬爏‫)ܕܚ‬, and the color of his face changed, and he was saddened and grieved’ (Syriac History of Joseph 15.8). Ambrose, On Joseph, 5.25. Testament of Joseph 9:2. Syriac History of Joseph 16.2. Syriac History of Joseph 16.9.

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ness in the final assault he ‘feared [the prospect of] fornication and shook at her wantonness’ before fleeing.39 Balai has Joseph assert to his mistress that he is ‘able to restrain (焏‫[ )ܕܐܟܠ‬his] desire’ and that he will be ‘a stranger (焏‫ܝ‬犯‫ܟ‬熏‫)ܢ‬ to [his] appetite’,40 observing that he ‘fear[s his] God like a leather strap striking the impetuousness of [his] sins’.41 Ephrem simply mentions that Joseph refused to submit (爿‫ ܐܬܛܦܝ‬焏‫ )ܠ‬to his mistress.42 The Christian writers, even if not doubting Joseph’s unassailability, do recognize Joseph’s resistance as a praiseworthy feat. He is to be ‘praised for having slipped away’, says Ambrose.43 Or, as a rare apostrophe in Joseph Son of Jacob has it: Well done lad, O man of strength and pure of mind, For you trod underfoot all passions both hidden and revealed, in body and in spirit. Well done lad, pure of limbs and perfect of soul, For with courage you exhibited the likeness of the spiritual ones. Well done, pure one full of purity and integrity, For you served the truth before God and men. From your brothers you bore and endured pains and torment. And the (Divine) Will snatched your life away from them, even from murder. And in the house of Potiphar, even though you did not go astray in the land of Egypt, The Chief of the Air hid a snare for you by the agency of Eve. Blessed be the Lord who gave you strength to withstand The fiery goads that were prodding you.44

39 40 41

42 43 44

Syriac History of Joseph 17.13. Balai, On Joseph iv.73–74 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86). Balai, On Joseph iv.75–76 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 86). Likewise, during the final assault Balai connects Joseph’s resilience with his fear of God and his judgement (On Joseph iv.141–148 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 88]; and J2 above). Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 35.1. Ambrose, On Joseph, 5.25. Joseph Son of Jacob i.360–371 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 538–539). Chrysostom goes further in marvelling at Joseph’s resilience at enduring the pressure of repeated temptation. ‘I mean’, he says, ‘in my view at any rate, it was not so remarkable that the three children survived unharmed in the midst of the Babylonian furnace and sustained no harm from the fire as it was remarkable and unprecedented that this remarkable young man had his clothes torn from him by this frenzied and intemperate woman without yielding to her’ (Homilies on Genesis 62.19).

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Joseph is praised here particularly for ‘exhibit[ing] the likeness of the spiritual ones’ (焏‫)ܪܘܚܢܝ‬, or in other words, for behaving like the sexless angels, an important theme in early Syriac spirituality and asceticism.45 As Sebastian Brock has noticed, already in the Old Syriac Gospels there is a strong reworking of Luke 20:35–36 that emphasizes that the eschatological hope of the worthy is to become equal with the celibate angels.46 Likewise, Syriac Christians were admonished to be watchful (‫ܘ‬犯‫)ܐܬܬܥܝ‬, like those wise virgins of Matthew 25:13, who in turn help reinforce the perpetual virginity of the eternally wakeful angels (‫)ܥܝܪܐ‬.47 Both Aphrahat and the Liber Graduum indicate that this state of heavenly watchfulness is the objective of those who wish to be perfect or victorious in this life,48 and it is of these ideas that Joseph Son of Jacob partakes in this apostrophe. Thus, in praising Joseph for preserving his virginity, the author of Joseph Son of Jacob is reinforcing his place as an exemplar of the spiritual life towards which the hearers of these memre were to strive.

Joseph in the Street (Gen. 39:12b) The sources see a gap in the biblical narrative at this juncture. The Biblical narrative turns away from Joseph once he has fled, and subsequent verses are seen from the point of view of Potiphar’s wife. Several sources respond to the question of what happened to Joseph in these intervening moments. Ephrem is concerned in his commentary on Genesis to know why, if Joseph was out in the street, did he not just make a break for it and return home? In response, he proposes that Joseph could indeed have fled to his father’s house, but he hated the idea of fleeing, even from shame, until he had seen how his dreams would be fulfilled.49 Perhaps both the author of Joseph Son of Jacob and Balai were inspired by Ephrem to consider this scene in more detail. However, even if this were the case, they are not interested in Ephrem’s specific question, but instead pursue the implications of Joseph’s nakedness. The language of Gen. 39:12b does not require the conclusion that Joseph was naked when he fled from Potiphar’s wife, but this is the opinion of those in the Syriac tradition who treat 45 46 47 48 49

Joseph Son of Jacob i.363 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 538). This is already a recognized theme in Brock, ‘Early Syriac Asceticism’, 6–7. Brock, Luminous Eye, 140. See Aphrahat, Demonstration 4.1, where Aphrahat wishes for his readers to be found in a state of ‫ܘܬܐ‬犯‫ ܥܝ‬when the Lord comes. See Murray, ‘Early Syriac Angelology’, 151–152 for references. Murray states quite clearly that ‘likeness to the angels was central’ to early Syriac asceticism. Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis, 35.2.

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the issue. Nakedness becomes a linking theme in Joseph Son of Jacob, connecting Joseph’s typologically synonymous experiences in the pit50 and his being sold as a slave, and the encounter with Potiphar’s wife and going into prison.51 Balai does not emphasize the typological significance of Joseph’s nakedness, however, but chooses to focus on the impact, in heaven and on earth, of Joseph ̈ being found naked in the ‘streets’ or ‘marketplaces’ (焏‫ܩ‬熏‫ ܫ‬狏‫)ܒܝ‬. Balai is quick to point out that Joseph was not ashamed to strip in the inner room because he was still covered with modesty.52 These sentiments partake of the feelings of the ‘heavenly beings’ (焏‫ )ܥܠ̈ܝ‬who look down upon Joseph and marvel not at his nakedness, but that he was appropriately ashamed of his mistress’s assault in the inner room.53 Joseph understood and feared the greater evil, knowing that it is better to be found naked in a crowded street than to succumb to the seductive advances of a woman in an inner room. The onlookers in the street are, however, amazed to see Joseph come running out of his master’s house naked, though their opinions of the situation vary. Balai imagines the onlookers’ comments about the situation. At first, they observe something along the lines of, ‘How the mighty have fallen’. Referring to Joseph as ‘this modest man’, the speaker asks what has happened to him; and then, without waiting for an answer, concludes that, ‘as much as his modesty grew great, thus has his wantonness prevailed’.54 Then, having observed Joseph, they conclude that, ‘It did not seem to be by his will that he stripped off his clothes and left [his garment] and went away’.55 Finally, they comment on Joseph’s countenance saying, ‘Something happened to him within the house—

50

51 52

53

54 55

Following the Syriac History, where Joseph is thrown into the pit naked (Syriac History of Joseph 6.2). Note, though, that the Syriac History does not refer to Joseph’s nakedness in this scene. Joseph’s nakedness does not seem to be significant to Narsai; though 爏‫ܛ‬犯‫ܥ‬ ‘naked’ and its derivatives are used elsewhere in the corpus, particularly in connection with Adam and Eve (compare also the nakedness of Eve in Narsai memra 80 On Reproof of Women 21 [11] and 138 [69]). Joseph Son of Jacob i.375–376, 391 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 539, 540); ii.260, 787, 919 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 571, 596, 602). Balai, On Joseph iv.161–164 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 89). See also Ambrose: ‘[Joseph] left behind the clothing by which he was held, and fled away, stripped to be sure, but not naked, because he was covered better by the covering of modesty. Yes, a man is not naked unless guilt has made him naked’ (Ambrose, On Joseph, 5.24 [206]). Balai, On Joseph iv.165–168 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 89). See also the martyrdom of Maḥya, in which she protests that she feels no shame in being stripped naked before she is martyred because she was a ‘woman—such as was created by God’ (Brock and Harvey, Holy Women, 110). Balai, On Joseph iv.170–172 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 89). Balai, On Joseph iv.173–174 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 89).

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his appearance is troubled and his heart is gloomy’.56 This imagined speech cleverly dramatizes a possible response to Joseph’s sudden appearance in the street naked. He is a known figure, both resented and admired. The response also envisions the scene from a variety of perspectives: suspicion, confidence, and concern. The figure and the story of Joseph is allowed to evoke a variety of reactions, though the narrator always works to remove any doubt as to the virtue of Joseph’s actions. This scene is imagined similarly in a section of An Admonition by Isaac the Teacher.57 Since this memra is a rebuke poem rather than a narrative poem, the narrative elements are scattered throughout the section rather than presented in sequence. They can be summarized as follows: Potiphar’s wife is made-up and adorned, and alone with Joseph in an inner room; she rushes at Joseph, but he separates himself from her using his strength; he sheds his garments and runs out into the street naked. The narrator is primarily concerned to set Joseph up as an example of one who feared God instead of mortals (in contrast with his audience). However, even though the narrative is subservient to the admonitory purpose of this illustration, certain distinctive elements common in the Syriac Joseph tradition appear nonetheless: Joseph is modest in the inner room (焏‫ܘܢ‬狏‫)ܒ‬58 Because he sees the hidden ones, And naked in the streets Because he defied the fear of mortals.59 Isaac’s treatment also alludes to the reaction of the people in the street at seeing Joseph while he is standing naked in the street: For that modest one thought nothing about standing there naked. He chose to be scoffed at by people and to be crowned by God.60 56 57 58

59 60

Balai, On Joseph iv.175–176 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 89). Bedjan, Homiliae S. Isaaci, 213–239, specifically, 223–224. I am grateful to Adam Becker for this reference. The scene of the assault is a ‘an inner or private room’ (焏‫ܢ‬熏‫ )ܩܝܛ‬in the Syriac History of Joseph 19.1 and Joseph Son of Jacob i.342, 388 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537, 540). Balai, like Isaac, sets the scene in the ‘inner room’ (焏‫ ;ܬܘܢ‬Balai, On Joseph iv.162 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 89]), as does Narsai (Narsai, On Joseph 455). Jacob of Serugh uses both 焏‫ܢ‬熏‫ܩܝܛ‬ (iv.164a) and 焏‫( ܬܘܢ‬iv.167a). Bedjan, Homiliae S. Isaaci, 224. Bedjan, Homiliae S. Isaaci, 224.

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Isaac’s double use of ‘modest one’ (焏‫ )ܢܟܦ‬as an epithet for Joseph may well suggest a familiarity with the Syriac Joseph sources.61 The use of this episode is a nice example of what happens to a narrative scene when it appears in a homiletic context, rather than in a narrative genre. In Joseph Son of Jacob, the scene is imagined differently. A troubled Joseph stands alone outside his master’s house, and instead of the comments of passers-by, the narrator gives a rare ‘internal’ (煿‫ ܠܒ‬熏‫ )ܒܓ‬soliloquy, in which Joseph reflects on the recent turns in his life and reaffirms his trust in God: And in his heart he was thinking, ‘What has happened to me? Because of that long-sleeved coat, my brothers envied me, And naked they sold me from freedom into slavery. Here also, again without going astray, I have gone out naked. And from my master’s house, behold, they will confine me to prison. My life’s hope is upon the God of our father Jacob That he will watch over me in every place to which I go. [That] power which preserved me in the pit in the desert and saved my life, I will call upon it at every moment, to come to my aid. I left the desire of Eve in the hand of Eve, And I did not corrupt the purity of the soul with the filthiness of the body’.62 The language of Joseph’s reflection is clearly intended to evoke the garden of Eden, as once again man finds himself outside naked.

61 62

Balai who uses this epithet for Joseph seven times in his fourth memra, which treats this scene. By comparison 焏‫ ܢܟܦ‬is also used three times in Joseph Son of Jacob. Joseph Son of Jacob i.372–382 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 539). Shortly after this, some of Potiphar’s servants come out into the street and find Joseph there pale and forlorn ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.383–384 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 539]). They ask him what is wrong and an exchange begins in which Joseph relates his experience in the inner room, referring to Potiphar’s wife obliquely as a ‘viper’ (焏‫ܢ‬煟‫ ;ܐܟ‬Joseph Son of Jacob i.313, 388 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 536, 540]; and also Hymns on Paradise vii.7, where Delilah is similarly denominated). The exchange is interrupted by the arrival of Potiphar’s wife ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.385–396 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 539–540]).

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The Accusation is Formed (Gen. 39:13–16) Dante’s reading of Potiphar’s wife led him to confine her to the tenth ditch of the eighth circle of hell, where she is known simply as ‘la falsa ch’accuso Gioseppo’.63 Notably she is silent, given less to say there than in Genesis; the talking is done by her more garrulous companions Sinon, who talked the Greeks’ wooden horse into Troy,64 and the new-comer, Dante’s elder contemporary Master Adam, who was burnt alive in 1281 for counterfeiting. The company in which Potiphar’s wife finds herself suggests that the sentence Dante gives to Potiphar’s wife was not simply, or mostly, because she was guilty of attempted seduction, but rather because of her calumny, which he apparently considered the more serious crime. Thus, she is consigned to the hell of liars and deceivers, ‘those whose words have been cruelly malicious and disastrous to others’.65 When the sources consider this issue, they are more concerned to first establish whether the act was premeditated, and in this they are divided. Ephrem observes that Potiphar’s wife was certainly aware of the implications of her actions: She wanted the servants to be witnesses to her accusation against Joseph rather than to what she wanted to do to Joseph, and so she cries out and makes false accusations against Joseph to avoid being derided by her servants.66 A good deal appears to lie behind these two statements. Ephrem appears to imagine a domestic scene, in which Potiphar’s wife is pursuing Joseph, devising ways to seduce him and consistently failing. All of this is being done under the knowing gaze of the domestic help. To this point there have been suspicions, which this final act would confirm, unless she can successfully manage to recast the event and pass the blame over to Joseph. Other sources are disinclined to find time in Gen. 39:13 for Potiphar’s wife to reflect on her actions, preferring a more immediate emotional response. Thus, in the Syriac History, as soon as Joseph flees, she ‘immediately’ (‫ܐ‬煟‫)ܡܚ‬ cries out and howls, but not to anyone in particular. It is only when ‘the men ̈ of her house’ (‫̇ܗ‬狏‫ ܒܝ‬營‫ )ܐܢܫ‬hear her that they all gather together.67 She then

63 64 65

66 67

Dante, Inferno xxx.97. Virgil, Aeneid 2.81 ff. Sinclair, Inferno, 381. Only Joseph Son of Jacob makes a point of denouncing Potiphar’s wife’s calumny, observing that Joseph’s mistress ‘spoke iniquitously before Potiphar, and bore false witness and spoke wickedly against the innocent’ ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.420 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 541]). Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 35.1. Syriac History of Joseph 17.14.

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addresses the servants ordering them, ‘Grab him, grab him, that insolent fellow, grab him and hold tightly that Hebrew slave, until his master comes from Pharaoh’s house. So that I may say to him, “This insolent one entered in upon me and sought to mock me and ventured to besmear your bed” ’.68 The servants obey their mistress and run and bind Joseph with strong cords.69 In Joseph Son of Jacob, the development of the scene in the courtyard seems to necessitate that Potiphar’s wife not call out in her room, but rather that she go in search of the servants, which she does, coming out suddenly into the streets ‘like an asp’ (爿‫ܬ ܐܣܦ‬熏‫ܡ‬煟‫)ܒ‬,70 and interrupting Joseph and the other servants. She then begins shouting and wailing, ‘Woe is me! O what has befallen me due to this Hebrew slave’.71 She then addresses herself directly to the other servants and fabricates her accusation against Joseph, repeatedly accusing Joseph, who she said came like ‘a bear’ (焏‫ )ܕܐܒ‬and attempted to rape her, defile her, dishonour her like a harlot, and dishonour the bed of her master.72 Unlike the Syriac History, the servants express doubt, and respond by defending Joseph, saying to their mistress, ‘Be still, for it is not true that the Hebrew has corrupted his master’s bed. Far be it from this one, pure of conscience and clear of mind, to abuse his honour with the dishonouring of your bed’.73 They buttress their disbelief by appealing to the common opinion of women, saying, ‘Women have an evil habit (which they practice) against men, and if they do not act licentiously,74 they bear false witness’.75 In Balai, Potiphar’s wife takes her own counsel and does not cry out, but is found by her servants in a gloomy state,76 whereupon they ask what has happened with her, thinking that from the look on her face she must have committed some crime or other.77 Potiphar’s wife is reserved and reticent in

68 69

70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77

Syriac History of Joseph 17.15–16. Syriac History of Joseph 17.17. See also Narsai, whose Potiphar’s wife is like a ‘lioness’ that saw ‘her prey had escaped from her’, and immediately begins to roar, attracting the attention of other slaves and nobles, who come running to find out the cause of the noise (Narsai, On Joseph 467–470). Joseph Son of Jacob i.397–398 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 540). Joseph Son of Jacob i.399–400 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 540). Joseph Son of Jacob i.401–410 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 540–541). Joseph Son of Jacob i.411–414 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 541). Lit. ‘perform their licentiousness’. Joseph Son of Jacob i.415–416 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 541). Balai, On Joseph iv.201–202 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 90). Balai, On Joseph iv.203–212 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 90–91): ‘Our mistress, why is the fair colour (note the play on the roots ‫ ܪܓ‬and 焏‫ )ܪܓ‬of your face so altered? The clothes that are set beside you, explain to us why they are there? For perhaps you are agitated by them and if you explain to us you may be refreshed. The colour of your face has changed

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her speech against Joseph. She plays the aggrieved woman who has been the victim of an unexpected attack, as is supported by the clothes she holds, and whose only concern now is that her husband deal with the slave who, though considered modest, is now thus exposed as a wanton man.78 This is certainly the most sophisticated of all the narratives. Balai is very happy to stray further from the Peshitta in order to more fully expose the wantonness of Potiphar’s wife, just as he does with the account of the brothers discussed above.

The Trial and Sentence (Gen. 39:17–20) Robert Alter reacts to Gen. 39:17–20 by observing that Potiphar ‘witlessly responds [to his wife’s accusations against Joseph] just as she had coolly calculated, [and] Joseph is thrown into prison’.79 Alter’s description of Potiphar as ‘witless’ seems to reflect a disappointment in his inability to be at all judicious in how he reacts to his wife’s accusations. Two authors ( Joseph Son of Jacob and Narsai), as well as some others in the Syriac tradition, are likewise discontent with the narrative and either rebuke Potiphar in commentary or frustrated apostrophe, or grant him the wit to respond to his wife, and in so doing develop what Kugel calls the ‘examine the garment’ motif.80 In the Syriac History, this scene opens with Joseph’s mistress in the act of having him bound. Potiphar then appears, prompting his wife to add to her tirade81 and to howl as she recounts her accusatory tale.82 Joseph Son of Jacob follows the Syriac History this far, though with even more melodrama.83 Balai, however, gives the most developed picture, having Potiphar return home to find troubled servants speaking with each other all at once.84 Amongst the chatter, he hears Joseph being implicated in a crime: ‘Woe is Joseph’ they were saying,

78 79 80 81

82 83

84

like a woman who committed iniquity. The look of your face is detestable, like a man who committed a crime’. Balai, On Joseph iv.214–232 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 91). Alter, Art of Biblical Narrative, 111. This motif is discussed briefly in Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 63 n. 39; 64 n. 47. The statement that she adds to her tirade at the sight of Potiphar seems to indicate that there is no time, or little, between her command to have Joseph bound and Potiphar’s arrival. Syriac History of Joseph 18.1. Thus, in Joseph Son of Jacob, ‘while [Potiphar’s wife] was speaking boldly with the servants’, the ‘brazen harlot’ sees her husband coming in from the street. She rushes to meet him, and agitatedly cries out, ‘Woe is me [because of] what has happened to me today’ ( Joseph Son of Jacob i.418–421 [Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 541]). Balai, On Joseph iv.233–234 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 91).

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‘for his master will hear about his deed’.85 Potiphar then asks his wife86 what has happened to vex her, especially since the one implicated is the head of his household.87 The accusation is expanded somewhat in the Syriac History. Potiphar’s wife begins by declaring that she will have nothing else to do with Joseph, implying the reason for this statement when she affirms that as a noble woman and a wife she has no intention of having illicit sexual relations in Potiphar’s house.88 Then she turns once again to the fact of the missing servants (Gen. 37:14), which was used previously as an enticement to Joseph (P11 above), and which she manages to use now as an argument for Joseph’s duplicity. She claims that she gave leave to her serving women and implies that Joseph knew this and took advantage of the situation by bribing the menservants to leave also.89 Finally, Joseph’s mistress uses the possession of his clothes as her clinching argument and then demands Joseph’s immediate dismissal.90 In Joseph Son of Jacob, the accusation does not stray too far from the Peshitta and uses the Peshitta’s language.91 One novel aspect of this fabrication is the use of language previously used by Joseph. Earlier in the poem, the author says, ‘Chaste Joseph entered into the inner room as usual’;92 and then later, when Joseph is recounting his experience to his fellow servants, he observes that he ‘entered into the inner room as usual’;93 and now Potiphar’s wife uses this very same language to build her defence. In the Syriac History, Potiphar is terribly upset by the accusation and complies immediately with his wife’s demands, leading Joseph off and throwing

85 86 87

88 89 90 91

92 93

Balai, On Joseph iv.235–236 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 91). Referring to her as a ‘daughter of noblemen’ (Balai, On Joseph iv.238 [Bedjan, Histoire complète, 91]). Balai, On Joseph iv.238–239 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 91). Narsai has conflated the scene with the servants and this scene with Potiphar, having the servants and nobles (including, it seems, Potiphar) all come running when she cries out. Syriac History of Joseph 18.2. Syriac History of Joseph 18.3. Compare the Jewish tradition, in which Joseph is accused of wanton behaviour with other slaves (discussed in Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 46ff.). Syriac History of Joseph 18.4. Joseph Son of Jacob i.424–429 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 541): ‘See this Hebrew slave you brought to us, he came in to dishonour me and to mock our nobility. I went into the room today as usual, and the son of the Hebrews came after me and grabbed me in his hands. I pushed him away and suddenly cried out shouting. And he left his garment in my hands and fled out of the door.’ Joseph Son of Jacob i.342 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 537). Joseph Son of Jacob i.388 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 540).

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him into prison.94 Likewise in Balai, when Potiphar is about to go and question Joseph, his wife interjects with a long and carefully crafted speech,95 which causes Potiphar to swell up with fiery anger, becoming as it were a furnace of threats that is being fed by his wife.96 His wife fuels the fire further when she tells Potiphar not to be amazed but to get revenge—otherwise she will leave.97 Potiphar then replies to his wife’s accusations, promising to send Joseph to prison, which he does.98 In Narsai’s account, Potiphar hears his wife’s complaint and attempts a refutation. He asks, ‘Who is your witness that he did this thing? [For] I do not wish to contend with him unjustly. Behold, his garment is in your hands, but you cry out that you are the vanquished one’.99 Potiphar is unable to sustain his rational approach to the incident, and, being strongly moved with jealousy as he continues to listen to his wife, he decides to confine Joseph in prison.100 Narsai again appears to be following Joseph Son of Jacob, in whose retelling the dialogue is expanded further. In response to his wife’s accusation Potiphar says: If you are pure, why does the garment of the slave remain with you? If Joseph audaciously came to lie with you, he would have taken your garment and not you his. Behold, your lack (of intelligence) is revealed together with your transgression. Don’t shout, don’t be in an uproar, and don’t raise your voice. I will call him and set you before each other, and I will look and observe your demeanours. From the look of your faces I will perceive and know that guilty one who did this thing.101 Potiphar’s wife nevertheless presses her petition and manages to convince Potiphar, seemingly by virtue of the fact that if Joseph is cast into 94

95 96 97 98 99 100 101

The Peshitta’s ‘be became angry’ (‫ܗ‬熟‫ ܪܘܓ‬狏‫ ;ܐܬܚܡ‬Gen. 39:19) is intensified, becoming ‘he was really astounded and amazed, and he was exceedingly upset because of him’ (‫ܬܗܪ‬ 焯‫ܗܝ ܛ‬熏‫ ܥܠ‬煿‫ ܠ‬狏‫ܝ‬犯‫ ܘܟ‬.犯‫ ܘܐܬܕܡ‬焯‫ ;ܛ‬Syriac History of Joseph 18.6). Balai, On Joseph iv.241–272 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 92–93). Balai, On Joseph iv.273–276 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 93). Balai, On Joseph iv.277–280 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 93). Balai, On Joseph iv.281–304 (Bedjan, Histoire complète, 93–94). Narsai, On Joseph 483–486. Narsai, On Joseph 487–488. Joseph Son of Jacob i.431–439 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 542).

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prison, she will never have to see him again,102 perhaps adumbrating the jealousy motif suggested by Narsai.103 In this case, there seems to be strong evidence that Joseph Son of Jacob has adopted a traditional motif known in both Jewish and other Christian sources.104 The earliest instance of this motif is found in Philo’s On Joseph. Philo recounts the accusation made by Potiphar’s wife against Joseph and notes that Potiphar believed the tale to be true and sent Joseph off to prison, thereby committing two great errors. The first was to give Joseph no opportunity for defence; the second was not to apprehend that ‘the raiment which his wife produced as left by the youth was a proof of violence not employed by him, but suffered at her hands. For if force were used by him, he would retain his mistress’s robe; if against him he would lose his own’.105 Three non-Syriac Christian texts indicate their close connection with other strands of the Syriac tradition through the incorporation of this motif.106 In the Greek Sermon on Joseph the Most Virtuous (Text 29), the author comments on Potiphar’s judgment of Joseph by noting that, ‘without examination or enquiry [Potiphar] passed the unjust sentence against [Joseph]’.107 In the first kontakion on Joseph by Romanos (Text 30), the question is put more strongly: ‘If [Potiphar] had had wisdom, he would not have allowed the trick to deceive him. You are a foolish judge! As evidence you have Joseph’s robe; ask where it is and consider if she is to be trusted. If she fled from him, then how does she possess his robe?’108 In the Armenian commentary on Genesis, again attributed to Ephrem (Text 33), the author similarly addresses himself to Potiphar: ‘But you,

102 103

104 105 106

107 108

Joseph Son of Jacob i.440–445 (Bedjan, Liber Superiorum, 542). Gillian Clark observes that families in the later Roman empire would often choose to turn a blind eye to a wife taken in adultery ‘rather than cause a scandal or worse’ (Women in Late Antiquity, 35). It is, of course, possible that the problem was recognized and narrative expanded similarly, but independently in both the Jewish and Syriac traditions. Philo, On Joseph, 52. For references to subsequent occurrences in Jewish sources, see Kugel, In Potiphar’s House, 63 n. 39. It is interesting to observe that, whereas in these latter texts the ‘examine the garment’ motif is introduced as an exegetical comment on the text or as a direct comment to Potiphar (apostrophe), in the dramatic dialogue poems the motif is introduced in the course of the dialogue. This is a distinctive feature of the exegesis of these dramatic dialogue poems, particularly those classified as type i–iv in Brock’s classification system (‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’). Ephrem Graecus, On Joseph 567–568 (Assemani, Sancti patris nostri Ephraem syri, ii.33, lines 11–12). Grosdidier de Matons, Romanos le Mélode, i, 216–218; English translation in Carpenter, Kontakia of Romanos, ii.88.

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master of Joseph, would it not have been right for you to discover whose garments were found with whom? For if the garments of your wife had been found with Joseph, you would then have rightly believed your wife. But, since Joseph’s garments were found with your wife, is it not evident that she laid hands on him in order that he accomplish her will?’109 The Syriac History and Balai demonstrate, however, that the Syriac tradition does not accept this motif uniformly. Furthermore, Ephrem in his commentary on Genesis construes the episode without the expansion.110 In fact, Ephrem goes against the expansion and has Potiphar construe the garment in his wife’s hand as genuine evidence against Joseph. Perhaps, for Ephrem, the necessity for Potiphar to hesitate is mitigated by the appearance of the ‘other witnesses’, doubtless the servants already primed by Potiphar’s wife, who confirmed his wife’s accusations.

Conclusions There are a broad range of forces influencing how the biblical narrative is construed. The construction of Potiphar’s wife as a Syriac sinful woman is clearly informed by received notions of a ‘sinful woman’ trope, whether that be from other narratives featuring a sinful woman, such as the Ephremic memra, or from a view of sinful women that is worked out more extensively elsewhere, as is certainly the case with Narsai. Because it is possible to move beyond the homily on Joseph, Narsai offers the surest opportunity for identifying definite influence. However, there seems to be sufficient evidence to suggest that the portrayal of Potiphar’s wife in every text, excepting only the Syriac History, is worked out with the popular figure of Luke’s sinful woman in mind. Thus, Potiphar’s wife acquires new sisters in the Syriac tradition, from both the Old and New Testaments. There are also clear indications that the ‘literary innovation and inventiveness’ evident throughout the corpus of Syriac dramatic dialogue poems is at play also in this narrative.111 This is evident from the abundant descriptions of

109 110

111

Mathews, Armenian Commentary on Genesis, 138 (lines 16–21). Mathews does not give any of the parallels to Syriac texts. ‘His master came and heard the words of his mistress and the witnesses [who] were confirming her sayings. He also saw Joseph’s garment, which was against Joseph [i.e., bore witness against Joseph], and he cast him in prison without a garment’ (Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 35.3). Brock, ‘Dramatic Dialogue Poems’, 147.

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Potiphar’s wife’s adornments; in the varied arguments and defences marshalled in the temptation of Joseph; in the additional scene imagined after Joseph flees from his mistress; and in the many subtle mimetic additions made by each author as they imagine and construe this chapter. It seems that what fires the imaginations of the authors are the narrative holes that so frequently appear in Genesis. Thus in construing this story, the authors are often doing a different kind of exegesis and respond to a different set of cruxes in the biblical text than those which later exegetes found relevant or compelling.112 For the authors of the Syriac Joseph texts, the content of Potiphar’s wife’s propositions and how Joseph responded to them, or what Joseph was doing or thinking when he fled from his mistress, are entirely legitimate questions to ask of the biblical narrative, and not just for their admonitory value. 112

Interestingly, the Diyarbakir commentary does treat the question of whether Joseph fled naked from his mistress or not. However, that is the only question treated in the whole episode with Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:21 is also treated).

conclusion

Promise and Betrayal At this juncture in my study of the Syriac Joseph sources, it is only possible to offer some preliminary observations on the tradition. These observations serve in part as a promise of a fuller conclusion in the second part of this study. My aim here is simple: I want to give some sense of the vibrant literary culture that was delineated in chapter 1 and explored in the subsequent chapters. The study of the Joseph story offers a valuable vantage from which to examine early Syriac literature. What we see is generic diversity, enormous creativity, deep intertextuality redolent of a mature and dynamic literary scene, and examples of unquestionable literary genius. The brilliance of this early efflorescence was recognized in the transmission of the variety of sources—prose, narrative poetry, and dialogue poetry—and sparked new literary creativity in the early Islamic period and beyond. I take as the theme of these concluding observations the idea of promise and betrayal. This idea seems to sum up the overarching theme of Genesis 37 and 39, but it is also way to think about a conclusion, which is a genre that promises so much that it can only result in a kind of literary betrayal to the reader. However, I also want to think about this idea with respect to the texts. What have I promised in undertaking this study, and how can I avoid betraying the sources that I investigate? The authors of the Syriac Joseph texts studied in this volume were storytellers. They wrote in a world where the storyteller is ‘telling a traditional story. The primary impulse which moves him is not a historical one, nor a creative one; it is re-creative’.1 Genesis was this traditional story for Syriac Christians. Ephrem aims to recreate and interpret this story in its entirety in his commentary.2 Aphrahat divides the story into overlapping topoi and exemplars, which can be redeployed as bricoloage in his Demonstrations. In Aphrahat’s hands, Joseph is an example, a type, an argument, and an illustration. In the early to mid-fourth century, however, there is a figure of Joseph, and there are stories about Joseph, but there is no coherent Story of Joseph. The parameters of his story are not set, and the sources will make different decisions about where the story starts and ends. Nor is it even yet clear what

1 Scholes et al., Nature of Narrative, 12. 2 Kremer, Mundus Primus.

© Kristian S. Heal, 2023 | doi:10.1163/9789004526969_011

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parts of Genesis 37–50 belong to his story. Each author will make different decisions and attending to these has been an important part of understanding the sources. The story of Joseph is a promise fulfilled in its continual retelling. In this continual retelling of the story of Joseph, certain episodes were endowed with inherent dramatic potency. These episodes take on a life of their own. This process of particularizing the story begins with the liturgical readings, is evident in manuscript paratexts, takes on new narrative life in individual poems, is dramatized in dialogue poetry, and sung in liturgical lyric verse. Even an individual memra from a coherent dramatic cycle can begin its own journey in the manuscripts, making a different kind of traditional story, giving the figure additional potency and importance. The story of Joseph as found in Genesis also develops in the light of canonical and extra-canonical intertexts. This results in the fascinating phenomenon of the stories themselves being reabsorbed into the foundational text. Can a sixth-century author tell the story of Joseph without absorbing, consciously or unconsciously, elements, themes, structures, or ideas from the retellings of previous generations? Even Ephrem read the Book of Genesis in the light of a variety of earlier exegetical traditions, often identifiably Jewish traditions. Perhaps, then, there was never a point in the Syriac tradition when the Bible was the sole donnée for a recreation of the story of Joseph. The earliest layer of the Syriac Joseph tradition is found in the Syriac History of Joseph (Text 4) and Aphrahat (Text 2). Aphrahat’s reading of the Old Testament as Christian scripture and Joseph as a type of Christ has deep roots in the Christian tradition (see chapter 2). His Joseph, is, however, the Joseph of the Peshitta. The Syriac History of Joseph is best understood as part of the process of particularizing the Biblical texts to capture coherent and compelling narrative entities. This text founded a tradition of retelling the story of Joseph that the later texts had to negotiate. Several examples have been given, for example, of how Balai is retelling the Genesis narrative as mediated through the Syriac History of Joseph. It is clear from the beginning that Genesis 38 and 49 belonged not only to different exegetical discourses, but also different narrative discourses. The problem was resolved in part by reconsidering the chronological order of the story of Judah and Tamar. The fact that Joseph recalls this story in the Syriac History of Joseph suggests that some Syriac authors understood the events of Genesis 38 to have happened before the events of Genesis 37.3

3 Syriac History 49.9.

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The Syriac History of Joseph is a sophisticated narrative and exegetical retelling that exerted considerable influence on the Syriac tradition, though it is also clear that as time passed there was no small amount of anxiety regarding its influence. Ephrem’s use of motifs that are known only in their full form in the Syriac History strongly suggests that either an earlier recension of this text was known to him, or, as seems more likely, both authors drew on earlier sources. The influence of and anxiety about the Syriac History can be seen in large measure by the dialogue and narrative poems that it inspired or provoked. The story once retold, is both a promise filled and a new promise made, as the tradition is shaped anew, and calls to be shaped anew yet again. Joseph Son of Jacob (Text 9) is, in part, such an attempt, driven by a desire to Christianize the Syriac History of Joseph in the fifth century. The Christological typology is pervasive, and the deployment of a Joseph-Jesus comparison series helps confirm the primary concern of the author and demonstrate the pervasive influence of Aphrahat. Nevertheless, the author is also innovative in other ways. Numerous additional motifs are worked into the narrative, some doubtless derived from existing Jewish and Christian sources, but others are surely the product of an inventive mind. This poem may lack the poise of Balai’s twelve memre cycle (Text 6), but what they lack in style they make up in earnestness, and perhaps mercy, for this is the last text to fully adopt the motif of the redemption of Potiphar’s wife, which will be fully discussed in the second volume of this study. The vantage gained by a fuller analysis of the manuscript sources of Joseph Son of Jacob allow for the mapping of its textual history. The early date of these two memre is supported by their inclusion in both East and West Syrian manuscripts. The attribution to Narsai found in the East Syriac manuscripts is false. Moreover, the linguistic and other evidence points to a greater number of affinities with the literary world of Jacob of Serugh than that of Narsai. Therefore, though the authorship of this pair of memre will likely forever by unknown, we can at least begin to put the work in the right circles, enabling future studies to pursue more contextual analysis. The early loss of the end of Joseph Son of Jacob was answered with an ad hoc solution that gained permanence, though at least one West Syriac copyist was dissatisfied with the result. This augmented collection was the basis for the Joseph and his Brothers in Three Metres (Text 10), which only survives in two late West Syriac manuscripts. Nonetheless, its importance cannot be denied, not least as the most substantial composition in multiple metres surviving in Syriac literature. This is another example of fulfilling the promise of the story of Joseph in the Syriac tradition. Each invention, each refinement, each reinvention serves as a proof of the liveliness of the Syriac literary tradition.

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In this summary of one part of the Syriac Joseph tradition, one trajectory of the promise of the story of Joseph, every text mentioned is anonymous. There are several pieces of evidence that suggest a break in the homiletic tradition after the sixth century. The poet Balai is forgotten, despite writing one of the finest works in early Syriac literature. Cyrillona, another very fine poet, survives only in a single early manuscript. Anton of Takrit seems unaware of Cyrillona, for example. The works of (at least) three Isaacs become intermingled, though traces of their separate biographies are preserved by the most recondite literary scholars.4 Numerous memre lose their authors entirely and become attributed to Ephrem, Jacob, or Narsai, or are anonymously transmitted. The direct impact of this transitionary period for our texts is the acceptance of Ephrem as the author of the epic twelve memre cycle (Text 6), the loss of authorship for Joseph Son of Jacob, later attributed to both Jacob of Serugh and Narsai (Text 9), and the loss of authorship of several single memre (Texts 10, 11, 12, 13, 14), to say nothing of the fact that these individual poems may have once been part of complete cycles on Joseph. It is a betrayal of the Syriac Joseph tradition to undervalue texts that are marginal or anonymous. The long first chapter of this book is an attempt to enact this belief, to demonstrate a commitment to recognizing the value and contribution of the entire tradition, from the most sublime epic narratives to the seemingly uninspired extraction and epitomizing that produced the minor works in the tradition. 4 Jacob of Edessa distinguishes three Isaacs in his letter to John of Litarba (found in British Library Add. 12,172, f. 123r–v). Jacob’s statement is generally accepted without interrogation.

Bibliography AbouZayd, Shafiq, ‘Isaac of Antioch on Learning and Knowledge’, in René Lavenant (ed.), vi Symposium Syriacum, 1992: University of Cambridge, Faculty of Divinity, 30 August–2 September 1992 (oca 247; Roma: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 1994), 215– 220. Adams, Colin, ‘“There and Back Again”: Getting Around in Roman Egypt’, in Colin Adams and Ray Laurence (eds.), Travel and Geography in the Roman Empire (London: Routledge, 2001), 138–166. Akhrass, Roger-Youssef, and Imad Syryany, 160 Unpublished Homilies of Jacob of Serugh (2 vols.; Damascus: Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate, 2017). Albert, Micheline, Jacques de Saroug. Homélies contre les Juifs (po 38.1; Turnhout: Brepols, 1976). Alter, Robert, The Art of Biblical Narrative (revised and updated ed.; New York: Basic Books, 2011). Amar, Joseph P., ‘On Hermits and Desert Dwellers’, in Vincent L. Wimbush (ed.), Ascetic Behavior in Greco-Roman Antiquity: A Sourcebook (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990), 66–80. Amar, Joseph P., A Metrical Homily on Holy Mar Ephrem by Mar Jacob of Sarug: Critical Edition of the Syriac Text, Translation and Introduction (po 47.1; Turnhout: Brepols, 1995). Aptowitzer, Victor, ‘Asenath, the Wife of Joseph: A Haggadic Literary-Historical Study’, Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924), 239–306. Argyle, Aubrey W., ‘Joseph the Patriarch in Patristic Teaching’, Expository Times 67 (1956), 199–201. Arnold, Edwin, Potiphar’s Wife and Other Poems (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1892). Assemani, Paul, Memre treʿsar da-ʿbidin l-tubana Mar Afrem ʿal Yawsef kina [Twelve Memre on Joseph the Righteous by the Blessed Mar Ephrem] (Jounieh, 1941). Assemani, Stephanus Evodius, Petrus Benedictus and Stefanus Evodius Assemani, Sancti patris nostri Ephraem Syri opera omnia quæ exstant, Græce, Syriace, Latine (6 vols.; Rome: Typographia Pontificia Vaticana, 1732–1746). Assemani, Stephanus Evodius, and Joseph Simonius Assemani, Bibliothecae apostolicae vaticanae codicum manuscriptorum catalogus (pt. 1. vol. 2–3; Rome: Ex typographia linguarum orientalium, 1758–1759; repr. Maisonneuve Frères, 1926). Auerbach, Erich, Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature (trans. Willard R. Trask; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953). Bach, Alice, Women, Seduction, and Betrayal in Biblical Narrative (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).

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Index of Manuscript Citations This alphabetic index is limited to the manuscript witnesses of the Syriac works on Joseph described in texts 4–26 in chapter 1. I identify the Joseph text contained in each manuscript and provide links to online versions where applicable. Aleppo, Syrian Orthodox Church 48H/soaa 00048 H (19th C)1 Text 17. Alqosh, Chaldean Diocese of Alqosh 60/dca 00060 (19th C)2 Text 6.1–10. ‘Aynkāwah, Congregation of the Chaldean Daughters of Mary Immaculate 13/csdma 00013 (1875)3 Text 4. Baghdad, Archbishopric of the Church of the East 6 (1719) Texts 18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26. Baghdad, Archbishopric of the Church of the East 45 (1647) Text 9. Baghdad, Chaldean Patriarchate 69 (1896, 1898) Text 7. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 58/Sachau 219 (late 18th C) Texts 9, 11. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 59/Orient. quart. 802 (early 18th C) Text 9. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 74/Sachau 9 (1695) Text 4. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 166/Sachau 190 (1860) Text 10. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 174/Sachau 70 (19th C)4 Text 28. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Syriac 180/Sachau 189 Text 10x2. Birmingham, Mingana Syriac 129 Text 19. Birmingham, Mingana Syriac 177 (19th C) Text 28. Birmingham, Mingana Syriac 182 (16th C) Texts 10x1, 10x3. Birmingham, Mingana Syriac 494 (1609/1616) Text 19. Birmingham, Mingana Syriac 546 Text 8x2. Cambridge, University Library Additional 2817 (1883) Text 6.1–10. Cambridge, University Library Additional 2820 (1882) Texts 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. Cambridge, University Library Additional 3538 (1882) Texts 9, 11. Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 490 (1879) Texts 9, 11. Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 491/olim Alqosh, Notre-Dame des Semences 161 (1898) Text 7. Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 606 (1882) Text 4. Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 607 (1901) Texts 9, 11. Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 608 Texts 9, 11. Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 609 Texts 9, 11. Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 610 (1881) Text 6.1–10. Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 623/olim Alqosh Notre-Dame des Semences 213 (1869) Text 4. Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 634 (1877) Text 6.1–10. Dawra, Chaldean Monastery Syriac 938 (1894) Text 4.

1 2 3 4

Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/508426. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/208299. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/500455. Online at: http://resolver.staatsbibliothek‑berlin.de/SBB0001CFD900000000.

index of manuscript citations Jerusalem, St. Mark’s Monastery 163/smmj 00163 (1830)5 Texts 10x1, 10x3, 17, 24. Kirkuk, Chaldean Archdiocese 213/ack 00213 (18th C)6 Text 4. Leiden, Rijksuniversiteit Bibliotheek cod. or. 17091/Hebr. 350 Texts 9, 11. London, British Library Additional 7190 (12th/13th C) Texts 15, 27. London, British Library Additional 12166 (6th C) Texts 6.1, 6.8. London, British Library Additional 14588 (9th or 10th C) Text 12. London, British Library Additional 14590 (8th or 9th C) Text 6.2. London, British Library Additional 17141 (8th or 9th C) Texts 16, 17. London, British Library Additional 17202 (c. 600) Text 27. London, British Library Oriental 2316 (17/18th C) Text 4. London, British Library Oriental 4078 (19th C) Text 6. London, British Library Oriental 4528 (1737) Text 4. London, British Library Oriental 5463 (1893) Text 7. London, British Library Oriental 9367 Texts 9, 11. Manchester, John Rylands Syriac 18 Text 11. Mardin, Chaldean Cathedral ms 411/ccm 00411 (1545/6)7 Text 6.1–8. Mardin, Chaldean Cathedral 429/ccm 00429 (1571)8 Texts 17, 18, 19, 20. Mardin, Church of the Forty Martyrs 145/cfmm 00145 (20th C)9 Text 15. Mardin, Church of the Forty Martyrs 259/cfmm 0025910 Text 19. Mardin, Deir ul-Zafaran 217/zfrn 00217 (20th C)11 Text 10. Midyat, Mor Gabriel 201/mgmt 0020112 Texts 17, 19. Midyat, Mor Gabriel 250/mgmt 0025013 Text 24. Midyat, Mor Gabriel 254/mgmt 0025414 Texts 10x1, 10x3, 24. Mosul, Dominican Friars 302 (1723)15 Texts 9, 11. Oxford, Bodleian Hunt 595 Text 19. Oxford, Bodleian Syriac f. 12 (18th C) Text 4. Oxford, Bodleian Syriac 135/Pococke 404 (1641) Text 9. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale Syriaque 234 (1192)16 Text 5. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale Syriaque 309 (1869) Text 4.

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/501297. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/504408. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/132530. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/132548. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/503598. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/502146. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/122686. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/500676. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/500691. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/500692. Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/134476. Online at: http://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc1025670.

257

258

index of manuscript citations

San Francisco (1901) Texts 7, 9, 11. Tehran, Chaldean Church of St. Joseph 8/teh sj 8 (18th C) Text 4. Tehran, Neesan 1 (1896) Text 7. Tel-Keppe, Qalb Al-Aqdas Chaldean Church 117/qacct 00117 (1885)17 Vatican, Syriac 96 (1352) Text 15. Vatican, Syriac 188 Texts 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25. Vatican, Syriac 46418 Texts 13, 15. Vatican, Syriac 469 (1804)19 Text 6.1–10. Vatican, Syriac 49820 Texts 9, 11. Vatican, Syriac 543 (18th C)21 Text 8x1. 17 18 19 20 21

Online at: https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/136581. Online at: https://digi.vatlib.it/mss/detail/Vat.sir.464.pt.1. Online at: https://digi.vatlib.it/mss/detail/Vat.sir.469. Online at: https://digi.vatlib.it/mss/detail/Vat.sir.498. Online at: https://digi.vatlib.it/mss/detail/Vat.sir.543.

Texts 9, 11.

Index of Incipits This alphabetic index is limited to the Syriac works on Joseph described in texts 4–26 in chapter 1 above. I list the incipits in alphabetical order, followed by the number of the relevant text in chapter 1. For works with multiple memre, I give the incipit for each memra (e.g. 6.1 refers to Text 6, memra 1). I also include incipits for extracts (e.g. 10.x.3 refers to memra 10 extract 3). East Syriac (E) and West Syriac (W) recensions are listed separately when the incipits differ.

爯‫ܒܝ‬狏‫ ܝ‬煟‫ ܟ‬焏‫ ܐ̈ܚ‬爯‫ ܬܪܝ‬.‫ܢ‬熏‫ܐ ܠܟ‬熟‫ ܚ‬焏‫ ܠ‬營‫ܐܘ ܐ̈ܚ‬ 6.6 犯‫ ܐܫ‬焏‫ܢ ܡܠܟ‬熏‫ܥ‬犯‫ܐܘ ܦ‬ 19 (E) 爯‫ܒܝ‬狏‫ ܝ‬煟‫ ܟ‬焏‫ ܐ̈ܚ‬爯‫ ܬܪܝ‬.‫ܢ‬熏‫ܐ ܠܟ‬熟‫ ܚ‬焏‫ ܠ‬營‫ܐ̈ܚ‬ 17 熏‫ ܬܘ ܨܘܬܘ ܘܫܡܥ‬營‫ܐ̈ܚ‬ 8.6 焏‫ ܛܥ‬焏‫ ܡܛܥ‬焏‫ܘܪ ܫܡܫ‬犏‫ܚ ܕܢ‬犯‫ ܕܡܡ‬焏‫ܐܝܢ‬ 8.7 焏‫ܝܢ‬犯‫ ܩ‬狏‫ ܠܒܝ‬營‫ ܠ‬熏‫ ܕܪܫ‬焏‫ܢ ܐܘܪܚ‬犯‫ܐܪܙܝ ܡ‬

19 (W)

熏‫ܠܟ‬煿‫ܐ ܠܡ‬犯‫ܡ‬焏‫ ܡ‬營‫ܢ‬煟‫ ܢܓ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ ܕܝ‬煿‫ܘܪܚ‬焏‫ܒ‬ 6.11 ‫ܐ‬狏‫ܡܝ‬煟‫ܐ ܩ‬狏‫ܝ ܬܫܥܝ‬煿‫ܒ‬ ̈ 10.x.1 牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ܗ ܝ‬犯‫ܒ ܠܒ‬熏‫ܐ ܗܘܐ ܝܥܩ‬犯‫ ܩ‬爯‫ܡܝ‬熏‫ ܝ‬爯‫ ܡ‬煟‫ܒܚ‬ ̈ ̈ 15 焏‫ܣ ܡܠܟ‬熏‫ ܘܬܐܘܕܘܣܝ‬:‫ܣ‬熏‫ܪܝ‬熏‫ܗ ܕܐܢ‬狏‫ܡ‬熏‫ܒܝ‬ 10 牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ ܝ‬爏‫ ܡܛ‬營‫ ܠ‬犟‫ ܬܐ ܦܫ‬犯‫ܟܒ‬熏‫ ܝ‬犯‫ܒ‬ 20 焏‫ܐ ܕܠܠܝ‬狏‫ ܫܢ‬爯‫ ܡ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ ܝ‬爟‫ܐ ܩ‬犯‫ܢ ܨܦ‬煟‫ܒܥ‬ 14 焏‫ ܕܣܦܪܝ ܪܘܚ‬焏‫ܒܥܢܝܢ‬ 8.3

8.x.1 焯‫ܘܐ ܬܣ‬熏‫ ܡܠ‬焏‫ ܗܪܟ‬爯‫ܗܐ ܡ‬ 8.9 焏‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ ܡ‬狏‫ܚ ܒܝ‬犏‫ ܕܢ‬牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ܐ ܝ‬犯‫ܗܘ ܫܦܝ‬

̈

̈

5 焏‫ܢ ܥܢ‬熏‫ܥ‬犯‫ܗܝ ܕܢ‬熏‫ܪ ܥܣܪܐ ܒܢ‬煟‫ ܫ‬煿‫ܪܥ‬焏‫ܒ ܠ‬熏‫ܪ ܕܐܬܐ ܝܥܩ‬狏‫ ܒ‬爯‫ܘܡ‬ 22

4

營‫ ܠ‬爟‫ ܐܩܝ‬爯‫ ̇ܡ‬爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ ܡ‬營‫ܩ‬熏̈‫ ܒܫ‬焏‫ ܕܢܟܠ‬焏‫ܚܓ‬ 18 牯‫ܣ‬熏‫ܗ ܕܝ‬犯‫ܦ‬熏‫ܐ ܠܫ‬狏‫ܬ ܫܛܝ‬熟‫ܚ‬ ̈ ‫ ܠܚܣ‬焏‫ܚܣܡ‬ 6.1 ‫ܫ‬焏‫ ܡܒ‬焏‫ܡ‬

‫ܬܐ‬煿̈‫ ܐܡ‬爯‫ܪܬܐ ܘܬܪܬܝ‬焏‫ ܚ‬爯‫ ܢ̈ܫܝ‬爯‫ ܬܪܬܝ‬煿‫ ܠ‬焯‫ܒ ܢܣ‬熏‫ ܝܥܩ‬焏‫ܒܢ‬熏‫ܛ‬ 25

爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ ܡ‬熏‫ܒ ܒܓ‬熏‫ܬ ܗܘܐ ܝܥܩ‬焏‫ ܡ‬煟‫ܟ‬ ̈ 22 ‫ܒ‬熏‫ܗܝ ܝܥܩ‬熏‫ ܗܘܘ ܒܢ‬爯‫ܝ‬狏‫ ܢܚ‬煟‫ܟ‬ 6.10 爯‫ܪܝ‬犏‫ ܡ‬熏‫ ܓ‬爯‫ ܡ‬爯‫ ܢܦܩܝ‬煟‫ܟ‬ 6.3

‫ܘܢ‬煿‫ ܫܪܒܝ‬爯‫ ܕܡܝ‬焏‫ܠܝܡ‬

8.4 煿‫ܝܢ‬犯‫ ܩ‬爯‫ ܡ‬營‫ܒ ܠ‬煿‫ܐܐ ܝ‬熏‫ ܡܠ‬焏‫ܗ ܕܢܟܦ‬犯‫ܡ‬焏‫ܡ‬ 26 爯‫ ܒܢܝܡܝ‬焏‫ ܠܛܠܝ‬.煿‫ܐ ܠ‬犯‫ ܫܦܝ‬焏‫ܡ‬ 6.9 焏‫ ܪܒ‬焏‫ܪ ܕܝܢ‬狏‫ ܒ‬爯‫ܡ‬ 6.4 爏‫ ܩܠܝ‬焏‫ܪ ܙܒܢ‬狏‫ ܒ‬爯‫ܡ‬ 6.12 ‫ ܘܐܬܐ‬牯‫ܤ‬熏‫ ܝ‬焏‫ ܕܦܢ‬爯‫ܡ‬ 6.7 焏‫ܪܥ‬焏‫ ܒ‬焏‫ ܟܦܢ‬爯‫ ܕܥܫ‬爯‫ܡ‬ 6.2 牯‫ܤ‬熏‫ ܝ‬營̈‫ ܐܚ‬熏‫ ܕܫܩܠ‬爯‫ܡ‬ ̄ 9.2 爯‫̈ܝܒ‬狏‫ ܕܟ‬爏‫ ܟ‬燿‫ܝ‬狏‫ ܐܤ‬燿‫ܐ ܕܐܪܙܐ ܕܒ‬犯‫ܡ‬

‫‪260‬‬

‫‪index of incipits‬‬ ‫ܐܬܐ ܠܥܠܡ‪8.x.2 焏‬‬ ‫ܡ‪犯‬ܐ ܕܐܪܙܐ ܕܫܠܚ‪熏‬ܗܝ ܪܚܡ‪熏‬ܗܝ ܘ ܼ‬ ‫ܢܦܢ‪ 焏‬ܡܟܝ‪ 爏‬ܥ‪ 爏‬ܫ‪犯‬ܒ‪6.8 焏‬‬ ‫ܢܦ̣ܩ‪ 熏‬ܡ‪ 爯‬ܝ‪煿‬ܘܕ ̈ܒܢ‪ 營‬ܐܝܣ‪犯‬ܐܝ‪ 爏‬ܕܢ‪焏‬ܙܠ‪熏‬ܢ ܠܡ‪犏‬ܪܝ‪12 爯‬‬ ‫ܢܩܦ‪ 熏‬ܡ‪ 爯‬ܡ‪犏‬ܪܝ‪ 爯‬ܪܘܒܝ‪ 爏‬ܘܐ̈ܚ‪熏‬ܗܝ ܐܦ ܒܢܝܡܝ‪24 爯‬‬

‫ܦ‪熏‬ܛܝܦ‪熏‬ܪ ܫܡ‪ 牟‬ܗܘܐ ܡ‪ 爯‬ܠܒ‪犯‬‬

‫‪10.x.2‬‬

‫ܗܘ ܬܘܟܠܢ‪ 營‬ܐܠ‪煿‬ܐ ‪6.5‬‬ ‫ܥܠܝ‪̱ 燿‬‬

‫ܩ‪煟‬ܡ ܝ‪熏‬ܣ‪ 牯‬ܒ‪犏‬ܦ‪犯‬ܐ ܘܐܡ‪ 犯‬ܠ‪焏‬ܒ‪熏‬ܗܝ‬

‫‪21‬‬

‫ܪܐܙܝ ܡ‪犯‬ܢ ܐܘܪܚ‪ 焏‬ܕܪܫ‪ 熏‬ܠ‪ 營‬ܒܝ‪ 狏‬ܩܪܝܢ‪13 焏‬‬ ‫ܪܓ‪狏‬ܐ ܣܢܝ‪狏‬ܐ ܥ‪ 爟‬ܢܟܦ‪熏‬ܬܐ ܠ‪煟‬ܐܪܐ ܢܚ‪狏‬ܬ ‪8.5‬‬ ‫̈‬ ‫̈‬ ‫ܪܚܡ‪ 狏‬ܟ‪焏‬ܢ‪ 焏‬ܩ‪犯‬ܬܢ‪ 營‬ܕܐܚ‪熟‬ܘܩ ܒܫܒܝ‪ 爏‬ܟ‪焏‬ܢ‪7 焏‬‬

‫ܫܒܥ‪ 焏‬ܝ‪̈ 熏‬‬ ‫ܡܝ‪ 爯‬ܗܘܐ ܗܘܐ ܝܥܩ‪熏‬ܒ ܒܒܝ‪狏‬ܗ ܕܝ‪熏‬ܣ‪11 牯‬‬ ‫̈‬ ‫ܫ‪熏‬ܦ‪犯‬ܐ ܡܫܝܚ‪ 焏‬ܕܒ‪ 煿‬ܐܨܛܒ‪狏‬ܘ ܟܠ‪煿‬ܘܢ ܟ‪焏‬ܢ‪8.1 焏‬‬ ‫ܫ‪犯‬ܒ‪ 煿‬ܕܝ‪熏‬ܣ‪ 牯‬ܒ‪犯‬ܥܝܢ‪ 營‬ܦܓ‪16 牟‬‬ ‫ܫ‪犯‬ܒ‪ 煿‬ܕܝ‪熏‬ܣ‪ 牯‬ܬܒܥܢ‪ 營‬ܕܐܘܣ‪ 牯‬ܘܐܡܠ‪ 爏‬ܒ‪8.2 煿‬‬ ‫ܫ‪犯‬ܝ ܒܢܝܡ‪ 爯‬ܕܢܒܟ‪ 焏‬ܩ‪煟‬ܡ ܝ‪熏‬ܣ‪10.x.3 牯‬‬ ‫ܬܐ ܠ‪ 燿‬ܡ‪熏‬ܫ‪ 焏‬ܪܫ‪ 焏‬ܘܒ‪熏‬ܟ‪犯‬ܐ ܕܟܠ‪煿‬ܘܢ ܢ̈ܒܝ‪9.1 焏‬‬ ‫ܬܘܒ ܥ‪狏‬ܝ‪犯‬ܐ ܐܦ‪ 犟‬ܗܒ ܠ‪ 營‬ܡ‪ 爯‬ܒܝ‪ 狏‬ܓ‪熟‬ܟ ‪8.10‬‬ ‫̈‬ ‫ܬܪܥ‪ 焏‬ܪܒ‪ 焏‬ܦ‪狏‬ܚ ܠ‪ 營‬ܝ‪熏‬ܣ‪ 牯‬ܕܫܟܚ‪狏‬ܐ ‪8.8‬‬

Index of Ancient Sources 1

Hellenistic Jewish Authors

Josephus Judean Antiquities

128, 129

Philo On Joseph

222

2

Testament of Joseph

181, 185, 197, 201, 211

Rabbinic and Medieval Jewish Author and Texts

Genesis Rabbah

128, 129

Midrash Tanḥuma

181

Midrash ha-Gadol

129

Targum Onkelos

129

3

Syriac Authors and Texts

On Abraham

4, 5

Abraham and Isaac (memre) 6–7, 8 Abraham and Isaac (soghithā) 6 Abraham and Sarah in Egypt 6, 8, 9

1.14 1.16 4.1 4.6 12.6 14.40 21 21.9 Balai On Joseph (Text 6)

Acts of Mar Mari the Apostle 106 Acts of Thomas

4, 9, 33, 41, 58, 89, 166, 167, 169

On the Annunciation

7

Aphrahat Demonstrations (Text 2) 5, 30–32, 44, 81, 83, 89, 90, 91–95, 96, 99, 100, 103–105, 106, 107, 108, 111, 113, 114, 116, 117, 121, 124, 130, 131, 225, 226, 227

i.1–30 i.1–40 i.1–8 i.5–6 i.13 i.33 i.41–60 i.55 i.56 i.56–57 i.57–58 i.58 i.59–60 i.61 i.65–66

116 95 213 99 104 142 95 92–93, 103

40–45, 57, 64, 103, 104, 107–109, 128– 130, 226–228 140 107 154 135, 143 143 143 108 128 128, 129 129 133 130 133 108 107

262 On Joseph (Text 6) (cont.) i.75 147 i.77 107 i.78 107 i.79 107 i.83 128 i.91–93 128 i.91–94 133 130 i.94 i.97 147 i.97–98 133 i.103–106 128 133 i.103–110 i.107–110 129, 133 i.108–110 133 i.110 130 i.113 133 i.115–116 128 i.115–118 133 i.116–118 129 i.129–130 133 i.135–138 133 i.139–141 143 i.143–146 143 i.178–182 143 i.259–292 144 i.293–300 144 i.349 142 i.389 142 i.391–420 77 146 i.395–396 i.397–398 146 i.403–404 145 i.415–416 146 i.421–422 146 i.555–556 57 i.599 154 i.603–604 154 i.607 154 i.661–664 151 i.670–688 156 i.681–688 151 i.687 149 i.688 149 i.689 151 i.720–726 155 i.721–726 108 i.727–746 155 i.734 155

index of ancient sources i.735 i.740 i.742 i.743 i.747–750 i.775–776 i.791 i.821–826 i.839 i.845–856 i.849 i.853 i.857–860 i.890 i.905–906 i.907–912 i.913–916 i.915 i.921–944 i.929–940 i.945–956 i.946 i.952 i.981–984 i.986 i.989–992 i.997–1004 i.1023–1036 i.1038–1039 i.1057–1072 i.1071–1072 i.1145–1156 i.1161–1164 i.1165 i.1166–1168 i.1173 i.1175 i.1193–1194 i.1195–1198 i.1197–1198 i.1199–1200 i.1201–1208 ii.57–60 ii.85–88 ii.89–90 ii.91–92 ii.93–94 ii.95–96 ii.99–102

155 155 155 155 156 171 171 151 108 108 106 106 156 168 168 168 168 154 168 157 168 142 168 157 168 168 169 156 154 174 157 156 170 170 170 170 170 170 170 170 170 170 146 146 146 146 146 146 147

263

index of ancient sources ii.99–116 ii.99 ii.103 ii.104 ii.105–106 ii.112 ii.129–134 ii.149–160 ii.149–298 ii.161 ii.162–190 ii.163–164 ii.191 ii.253–254 ii.272 ii.274 ii.303–304 ii.308–314 ii.315–424 ii.347–380 ii.407–424 ii.429 iii.1–40 iii.45–56 iii.65–80 iii.81–84 iii.85–88 iii.97–104 iii.107–112 iii.113–120 iii.129–130 iii.131–132 iii.133–136 iii.137–138 iii.139–144 iii.145–146 iii.147–150 iii.151–152 iii.153–154 iii.155–160 iii.161–204 iii.205–206 iii.207–236 iii.209 iii.237–238 iii.239–240 iii.241–260 iii.261–264 iii.265–268

147 147 147 147 147 147 146 146 147 147 147 158 147 148 147 147 148 148 148 148 148 148 123 169 169 172 172 172 172 172 173 173 173 173 173 173 173 173 175 175 175 176 176 175 176 176 176 176 176

iii.269–276 iii.277–278 iii.279–280 iii.281–286 iv.5 iv.6–8 iv.7 iv.9–10 iv.14 iv.15–16 iv.17–18 iv.19–20 iv.21 iv.21–22 iv.25 iv.25–27 iv.29–30 iv.33–36 iv.37–38 iv.41–48 iv.49 iv.50–54 iv.56 iv.60 iv.61 iv.61–62 iv.63–64 iv.67–68 iv.69–70 iv.70 iv.72 iv.73–74 iv.75–76 iv.77–78 iv.79–94 iv.87–88 iv.89 iv.91–94 iv.96 iv.97 iv.97–100 iv.101–104 iv.106 iv.108–110 iv.111–112 iv.121–128 iv.129–130 iv.129 iv.131–132

177 177 177 177 169 169 169 169 169 169 169, 185 169 187 185 187 185 193 193 193 194 196 196 196 201 201 201 205 205 205 205 205 203, 212 203, 212 201 202 202 201 202 202 204 203 202 196 196 196 196 208 196 208

264

index of ancient sources

On Joseph (Text 6) (cont.) iv.133–136 208 iv.135 208 iv.137 209 iv.138–140 210 iv.141 203 iv.141–148 212 iv.144 203 iv.145–148 203 iv.151–152 203 iv.153–154 210 iv.155–156 210 iv.157 208 iv.161–164 214 iv.162 215 iv.165–168 214 iv.170–172 214 iv.173–174 214 iv.175–176 215 iv.201–202 218 iv.203–212 218 iv.214–232 219 iv.233–234 219 iv.235–236 220 iv.238 220 iv.238–239 220 iv.241–272 221 iv.273–276 221 iv.277–280 221 iv.281–304 221 viii.1598 57 ix.400 58 x.861 165 Balai of Qenneshrin

44

Barḥadbeshabba 48 Cause of the Foundation of the Schools 46 Ecclesiastical History 46 Benjamin and the Cup (Text 26) 80 On Joseph and Benjamin (Text 19) 75–76 Chronicle of Zuqnin

5

Cyrillona 7, 44, 65, 103, 228 On the Institution of the Eucharist 7 On the Pasch 7, 103, 126 On the Washing of the Feet 7, 20 On the Death of Jacob (Text 25) 79–80 Ephrem the Syrian

3, 13, 14, 18, 43–45, 48, 49–50, 92, 94, 95, 106, 110, 114, 131, 139, 140, 165, 184 Against Bardaisan 13 Carmina Nisibena 18, 136 Commentary on the Diatessaron 192 Commentary on Genesis (Text 3) 5, 32–36, 41, 69, 70, 83, 89, 94, 99, 123– 128, 137, 225, 226, 227, 228 18.1 126 18.1–3 126 23.2 126 25 125 25.1 126 25.2 126 27.1 99 28.1 124 33.1 140 33.2 124 34.2 99 35.1 124, 177, 208, 212, 217 35.2 213 35.3 124, 176, 223 37.1 125 37.2 125 37.3 125 38.1 68, 161 40.4 66 41.4 94 On Holy Week 13 Hymns on the Church 152 Hymns on Epiphany 117 Hymns on Faith 106, 115, 120 Hymns on Nativity 99, 103, 186

265

index of ancient sources Hymns on Paradise 3, 45, 142, 186, 207 Hymns on Virginity 99 On Job (dubious) 44 Jonah and the Ninevites 9 Letter to Publius 5, 185 Memra on our Lord 5 Memre on Faith 13 Memre on Reproof i–iii 13 Memra on Solitaries 13 On the Sinful Woman and Satan (‘Ephremic’) 7, 8, 181–183, 185, 186, 223 Daniel of Ṣalaḥ Great Psalm Commentary 116–117 Death of Aaron

7

Elijah and the Widow of Sarepta 7 History of Joseph the King (Text 5) 39–40 Hymn of the Pearl

9

Isaac of Antioch 13, 43, 106, 189 On the Love of Learning 189 On the Magi 9 On Saint Sergius and Bacchus 7 Jacob of Serugh

11, 13, 16, 17, 49–50, 59, 106, 113–120, 135– 137 On Abraham and His Types 112 Against the Jews 9 On the Betrothal of Rebekah 136 On Cain and Abel 9 On the Council of Chalcedon 13 On Creation i–vii 9 On Daniel i–v 9 On the Departed 13 On Elijah 9 On Elisha 9

On the End of the World 9 On Faith 9, 13 On the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste 7 On Holy Week 10, 13 On Job 9 On Jonah 9 On Joseph (Text 8) 9, 49–58, 70, 228 115 i.1–2 i.9a 115 i.10 115 i.12–20 118 115, 118 i.12a i.13 115 i.13a 118 i.14a 118 i.16a 115, 118 i.16b 115 i.17a 116 i.18a 118 i.18b 118 i.19b 118 i.20b 118 i.22b 118 i.24–25 135 i.27 136 i.29 136 i.30 136 i.32–35 136 i.36 135 136 i.37 i.38 136 i.39a 120 i.40 120 ii.32 118 ii.40 119 ii.63 119 ii.63–82 119 ii.83–97 119 ii.84 119 ii.85 119 ii.86 119 ii.87–89 119 ii.93b 119 ii.94 120 ii.95 120 ii.97–99 120 ii.98–135 120 iii.62 120

266 On Joseph (Text 8) (cont.) iii.98a 116 iv.96–100 202 iv.101 204 iv.102–107 197 iv.108–112 203 iv.110 202 iv.111–112 204 iv.114 202 iv.116 202, 203 iv.117–122 195 iv.123–130 203 iv.171–176 137 vi.9a 116 vi.61–103 112 vii.8a 116 ix.373–454 118 x.197a 116 The Lord will Raise Prophet 115 On Moses i–x 9 On Praise at Table 13 On the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus 7 On Sodom 9 On Tamar 17 On the Veil on Moses’s Face 115 Joseph and Asenath (Text 27) 80–81, 94 Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt (Text 23) 78 On Joseph and His Brothers (Text 20) 76–77 Joseph and His Brothers in Three Meters (Text 10) 79, 123, 140, 154, 161– 162, 166, 169, 173, 174–175, 176, 177, 227 Joseph and His Mistress (Text 17) 73–74 Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (Text 16) 72–73, 206

index of ancient sources Joseph Rejects His Mistress (Text 18) 74–75, 206 Joseph Reveals the Dream to His Father (Text 21) 77 Joseph Son of Jacob (Text 9) 17, 57, 58–63, 64, 69, 70, 76, 78, 89– 90, 95–107, 108, 109, 117, 121, 123, 158, 160, 163–165, 166, 171, 183–185, 191–206, 227–228 i.2 97 i.25–28 145 i.26 161 i.28 161 i.29 145 i.30 142 i.31 153 i.44–52 68 i.63 154 i.65–74 157 i.77–84 104, 156 i.95–96 150 i.97–102 150 i.98–102 101 i.103–112 101 i.105–112 101 155 i.113–116 i.117 104, 154 i.127–128 153 i.134 153 i.136 153 i.137–142 101 i.157–166 104, 156 i.157–182 104 i.166 161 i.167–169 150 i.169 156 i.191 148 i.192 148 i.196–198 149 i.199–202 149 i.204–206 161 i.207–210 161 i.211 161 i.212 161

267

index of ancient sources i.213 i.213–218 i.214 i.219–220 i.221–228 i.229 i.231 i.232 i.233 i.233–234 i.235–236 i.237–240 i.241–252 i.243 i.244–245 i.245–249 i.246–250 i.250–252 i.253 i.254 i.254–256 i.257–260 i.261–262 i.261–276 i.263–266 i.267–274 i.277–278 i.279–283 i.283 i.284–286 i.288 i.290 i.294 i.298–299 i.298–309 i.300 i.301 i.302 i.302–303 i.304 i.305 i.306–307 i.309 i.310–311 i.312–313 i.313 i.313–314 i.316–317 i.319

100 162 164 162 162 100 172 172 173 173 173 173 174 174 78 174 78 174 174 176 173, 176 176 174 174 174 174 176 175 176 175 177 177 183 187 183 187 187 184 184 184, 187 187 187 184 192 192 216 193 199 199

i.320 i.321 i.322–327 i.323 i.324 i.325–327 i.326 i.330–333 i.335 i.336–337 i.338–339 i.339 i.341 i.342 i.342–343 i.343 i.344 i.347 i.348–349 i.350–351 i.353 i.355 i.355–356 i.358 i.360–371 i.363 i.369 i.372–382 i.373–376 i.375 i.375–376 i.383–384 i.385–396 i.388 i.389 i.391 i.397–398 i.399–400 i.401–410 i.406 i.411–414 i.415–416 i.418–421 i.420 i.424–429 i.431–439 i.440–445 i.443 i.444–445

199 199 102 199 199 197 199 201 203 201 204 101 202 215, 220 208 208 143 197 197 201 202 143, 209 210 210 212 213 102, 207–208 210, 216 100 155 214 216 216 216, 220 193 214 218 218 218 208 218 218 219 217 220 101, 221 101, 222 101 102

268 Joseph Son of Jacob (Text 9) (cont.) i.448–451 101 i.629–633 102 i.660 102 i.705 102 i.726–727 98 i.753 97 i.770–771 97 ii.780–783 96 ii.17 97 ii.19 97 ii.20 100 ii.20–21 96, 97, 99 97 ii.31–34 ii.32–33 25 ii.41–44 97, 106 ii.43–44 89 ii.49 99 ii.50–52 99 ii.50–58 103 ii.51–52 107 ii.52 106 ii.53–54 107 ii.57 96, 99 ii.59–60 96 ii.60 112 ii.61–78 100 ii.63 106 ii.69 101 ii.69–70 102 ii.71–72 103 ii.79–80 97 ii.80 97 ii.93–96 98 ii.260 155, 214 ii.264–265 151 ii.430 98 98 ii.435 ii.436–437 98 ii.439 98 ii.458 98 ii.462–463 98 ii.739–794 123 ii.787 155, 214 ii.794 168 ii.820 167 ii.892–915 76 ii.919 155, 214

index of ancient sources Joseph Reveals His Identity to His Brethren (Text 12) 68–70, 81 Joseph Tells Jacob and Dinah (Text 11) 65–68, 144, 150, 151– 152, 156, 166, 167 On Joseph when He was Revealed to His Brothers (Text 13) 70–71 Julian Romance

136

Liber Graduum

213

Life of Abel

4–5

Life of Azad

5

Martyrdom of Simeon 5 Mary and Joseph Narsai

7, 8, 18

11, 13, 14, 15, 46–47, 59, 89, 104, 106, 109–113, 117, 121, 128, 130–135, 140, 186– 190, 227–228 Against the Jews 97, 133 On Enoch and Elijah 134 On the Flood 185 On the Iniquity of the World 143 On Jonah 112 On Joseph (Text 7) 45–48, 89, 123, 178, 179 1–2 123 4 131 5–6 123 21 132 21–24 132 25 132 25–27 132 40 132 41 133, 134 44 133 45 133, 134 55 133 55–62 130 69 132

269

index of ancient sources 70 71–84 74 77 79 81 85 86 89 93 96 97–98 97–112 100–101 102–103 110 112–113 119–120 135–144 137 139–144 147–148 151 151–152 154 187 191 191–192 193 199 206 210 211 219 223 231 232 233 267 268 275 278 278–279 281 282–285 282–286 287 287–290 287–292

132 110 132 132 133 132, 133 132, 133 132, 134, 135 133 132 133 110, 112 110 110 110 110 110 134 132 133 133 134 133 132 133 135 143 143 143 184 135 135, 144 143 135 135 133 154 142 151, 154 151 132 154 111 154 157 111 111, 143 110, 111 111

291 291–292 292 295 299–312 313 316 351–352 353 361–363 375 377 378 379–380 381–384 385–390 392–396 397 406 407–408 409–410 411 411–416 412 413 414 415 417–418 419–420 422–423 423–424 425–426 427 427–428 429–430 431–432 432 433–434 435 436 436–438 441 443 444 445–446 447–448 451–454 455 455–456

143 111 151, 154 143 156 151 154 152 135 33 170 170 171 171 171 176 175 132 184 186 186 186, 187 186 187 187 187 187 191 171, 192 192 192 192 187 193 198 198 198 199 200 197 198 203 203 203 203 203 205 215 209

270 On Joseph (Text 7) (cont.) 457 209 459–460 201 461–462 197 464–467 210 467 186 467–470 218 471 187 483–486 221 487–488 221 494 135 495–502 110, 111, 113 594 105 598 105 633 135 641 142 668 134 683 142 687 133 724 133 754 133 762 133 772 133, 134 774 134 776–777 113, 134 776–790 110, 111, 113 791–808 132 793 109, 121 On the Nativity 198 On Revelations to Patriarchs and Prophets 97, 112 On Reproof 185 On Reproof of Women 154, 180, 186–190, 192, 193, 199, 214 On the Workers in the Vineyard 131 Ps Ephrem Against Bardaisan 13 Nachträge v 106 On Praise at Table 13 Sermones iii.ii 106 Sermones in Hebdomadam Sanctum v 13, 106 Removal of Joseph’s Bones (Text 14) 71–72

index of ancient sources Removal of Joseph’s Bones (West Syrian) (Text 15) 72 Revelation of the Magi 5 On the Sons of Jacob in the Metre of Mor Jacob (Text 24) 79 Story of Asenath’s Origins (Text 28) 81 Story of Mary, who is Shmuni, and her Seven Martyred Sons 4 Syriac History of Joseph (Text 4) 4, 36–39, 59, 63, 66, 69, 70, 75, 89, 94, 123, 226–227 1.3 163 1.5 163 1.7 141 2.8 141, 142 3.1 145 3.2–4 145 3.5 145 4.8–11 68, 171 5.2 150 5.6 151–152 6.2 153, 155, 214 6.3 156 6.4 150, 154, 155 8.7 157 8.10–12 150 8.14 167 8.15 156 8.17 167 8.20 160 11.2–4 158 11.4 153 12.1 163 12.2–3 163, 164 12.4 163 12.4–5 163 12.5–15 163 12.6–7 164 12.9 164 12.11 164 12.20 164 12.32 33

271

index of ancient sources 13.7–10 14.1 14.3 14.4 14.5–6 14.7 15.1 15.1–19 15.4 15.5 15.6–7 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10 15.12–13 15.13 15.14 15.15 15.16 15.17 15.18 15.19 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4–5 16.6–8 16.7

4

33 160, 171, 176 176 177 177 176, 177 169, 192 189 195 201 197 198 211 202, 204 203 198 199 199 204 202 202 204, 207 205 182, 187 211 195 198 200 200

16.9 17.1 17.2 17.5–6 17.7–8 17.9–10 17.11 17.12 17.13 17.14 17.15–16 17.17 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.6 19.1 23.11 25.5 32.6 33.14–16 40.2 42.4 43.17 44.7 49.9 Teaching of Addai

207, 211 208 209 200 200, 204 205 203 207, 210 88, 210, 212 217 218 218 219 220 220 220 221 215 94 170 150 163 152 152 163 167 226 4, 106

Other Early Christian Authors and Texts

Ambrose On Joseph

26, 180, 181 123, 180, 181, 191, 209, 211, 212, 214

Ephrem Graecus 180 On Joseph the Most Virtuous (Text 29) 81–84, 105, 140, 165– 166, 180, 181, 185, 187, 222 John Chrysostom Homilies on Genesis

26, 180, 181 212

Protoevangelium of James 8

Ps Ephrem Armenian Commentary on Genesis (Text 33) 87, 105, 112, 130, 222– 223 Ps Romanos Kontakion on Joseph (Text 32) 86–87 Romanos 85, 180 Kontakion on Joseph (Text 30) 85–86, 222 Kontakion on Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (Text 31) 86

272 Story of Joseph (Armenian) (Text 34) 87–88

index of ancient sources Theodore of Mopsuestia 14, 48, 49, 89, 109–110 Commentary on Zechariah 110