Aphrahat the Persian | |
|---|---|
_(14590545527).jpg) Aphrahat depicted in Les Vies des Pères des déserts d'Orient : leur doctrine spirituelle et leur discipline monastique (1886) | |
| Church Father Bishop,Abbot | |
| Born | c. 280[1] |
| Died | c. 345 |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church[2] Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Church Church of the East |
| Canonized | Pre-congregation |
| Majorshrine | Mar Mattai Monastery |
| Feast | 29 January (Roman Catholic,[2]Eastern Orthodox,Oriental Orthodox) 20Tobi (Coptic Orthodox) |
| Attributes | Shemagh,habit |
| Patronage | Erbil,Mosul |
Aphrahat (c. 280–c. 345;Syriac:ܐܦܪܗܛ,Ap̄rahaṭ,Persian:فرهاد,Arabic:أفراهاط الحكيم,Ancient Greek:Ἀφραάτης, andLatinAphraates), venerated asSaintAphrahat the Persian, was a third-centurySyriac Christian author ofIranian descent from theSasanian Empire, who composed a series of twenty-three expositions or homilies on points of Christian doctrine and practice.[3] All his known works, theDemonstrations, come from later on in his life. He was anascetic andcelibate, and was almost definitely ason of the covenant (an early Syriac form of communalmonasticism). He may have been abishop, and later Syriac tradition places him at the head ofMar Mattai Monastery nearMosul in what is now northernIraq.[4] He was a near contemporary to the slightly youngerEphrem the Syrian, but the latter lived within the sphere of theRoman Empire. Called thePersian Sage (Syriac:ܚܟܝܡܐ ܦܪܣܝܐ,Ḥakkimā Pārsāyā), Aphrahat witnessed to the concerns of the early church beyond the eastern boundaries of the Roman Empire.
Aphrahat was born near the border ofRoman Syria andNeo-Persian Iran around 280, during the rule of Sasanian EmperorShapur II.[1]
The name Aphrahat is the Syriac version of the Persian nameFrahāt, which is the modern PersianFarhād (فرهاد). He might have hadPersian Jewish ancestors.[5] The author, who was known as "the Persian sage", came from aZoroastrian[6] family and may have himself been a convert from Zoroastrianism, though this appears to be later speculation. An early tradition, found in thecolophon to a manuscript dated to 510, instead ascribes to him the name Jacob, which may have been hisbaptismal name.[7] Hence he was already confused withJacob of Nisibis,[8] by the time ofGennadius of Massilia (before 496), and the ancientArmenian version of nineteen of The Demonstrations has been published under this latter name. Thorough study of theDemonstrations makes identification with Jacob of Nisibis impossible. Aphrahat, being a Persian subject, cannot have lived at Nisibis, which became Persian only byEmperor Jovian's treaty of 363.[3]
Furthermore, Jacob of Nisibis, who attended theFirst Council of Nicaea, died in 338, and from the internal evidence of Aphrahat's works he must have witnessed the beginning of thepersecution of Christians in the early 340s by Shapur II. The persecutions arose out of political tensions between Rome and Persia, particularly the declaration ofConstantine the Great that Rome should be a Christian empire. Shapur perhaps grew anxious that the largely Syriac and Armenian Christians within his Empire might secretly support Rome. There are elements in Aphrahat's writing that show great pastoral concern for his harried flock, caught in the midst of all this turmoil.
It is understood that his name was Aphrahat from comparatively late writers, such asBar Bahlul (10th century), Elias of Nisibis (11th),Bar Hebraeus andAbdisho bar Berika. He appears to have been quite prominent in the Christian Church of the Persian Empire during the first half of the fourth century.[9]George, bishop of the Arabs, writing in 714 to a friend who had sent him a series of questions about the "Persian sage", confesses ignorance of his name, home and rank, but gathers from his works that he was a monk, and of high esteem in the clergy. The fact that in 344 he was selected to draw up a circular letter from a council of bishops and other clergy to the churches ofCtesiphon andSeleucia[8] and elsewhere (later to become Demonstration 14) is held byWilliam Wright and others to prove that he was a bishop. According to a marginal note in a 14th-century manuscript (B.M. Orient. 1017), he was "bishop of Mar Mattai," a famous monastery near Mosul, but it is unlikely that this institution existed so early.[3]
Aphrahat's works are collectively called theDemonstrations, from the identical first word in each of their titles (Syriac:ܬܚܘܝܬܐ, taḥwîṯâ). They are sometimes also known as "the homilies". There are twenty-threeDemonstrations in all.[1] Each work deals with a different item of faith or practice, and is a pastoralhomily or exposition. According toFrancis Crawford Burkitt, they are intended to form "a full and ordered exposition of the Christian faith." The standpoint is that of the Syriac-speaking church, before it was touched by theArian controversy. Beginning with faith as the foundation, the writer proceeds to build up the structure of doctrine and duty.[3]
TheDemonstrations are works of prose, but frequently, Aphrahat employs a poetic rhythm and imagery to his writing. Each of the first twenty-twoDemonstrations begins with each successive letter of theSyriac alphabet (of which there are twenty-two). TheDemonstrations were not composed all at one time, but in three distinct periods. The first ten, composed in 337, concern themselves with Christian life and church order, and predate the persecutions.Demonstrations 11–22 were composed at the height of the persecution, in 344. Some of this group deal with matters as before, others focus onapocalyptic themes. However, fourDemonstrations are concerned withJudaism. It appears that there was a movement within the Persian church by some either to become Jews or return to Judaism, or to incorporate Jewish elements into Christianity. Aphrahat makes his stand by explaining the meaning of the symbols ofcircumcision,Passover andShabbat. The twenty-thirdDemonstration falls outside of the alphabetic system of the early works, and appears to be slightly later, perhaps near the end of Aphrahat's life. The twenty-third piece takes the symbolism of the grape, drawn fromIsaiah chapter 65 and elsewhere, as its cue. It deals with the fulfillment of Messianic promise fromAdam to Christ.[8] Aphrahat never strays too far from theBible in theDemonstrations: he is not given to philosophizing. All of hisgospel quotations seem to be drawn from theDiatessaron, the gospel harmony that served the church at his time. Aphrahat's mode ofbiblical interpretation is strikingly similar to that of theBabylonianrabbinic academies of his day. His position within the church is indicated inDemonstration 14, in which Aphrahat appears to be writing a letter on behalf of hissynod to theclergy of Persian capital,Ctesiphon-Seleucia on the Tigris.
InDemonstrations 5, Aphrahat dealt with eschatology. Concerning the beasts of Daniel 7, he identified the first beast asBabylon; the second,Media and Persia; the third,Alexander'sMacedonian empire. The four heads of the leopard were the four successors of Alexander. The fourth beast appeared to include both the Macedonian successors of Alexander and the Roman emperors. Its horns he applied to the Seleucid kings down toAntiochus, whom he identified as the Little Horn.[10]
TheDemonstrations were originally composed in theSyriac language, but were quickly translated into other languages. TheArmenian version, published byAntonelli in 1756 and containing only 19 homilies, circulated mistakenly under the nameJacob of Nisibis. Important versions inGeorgian andGe'ez exist. A few of theDemonstrations were translated intoArabic, but wrongly attributed toEphrem the Syrian.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: McLean, Norman (1911). "Aphraates". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 165–166.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
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