Jacob of Serugh

Jacob of Serugh (, ; Iacobus Sarugiensis; c. 452–521), also called Jacob of Sarug or Mar Jacob, was one of the foremost Syriac poet-theologians, perhaps only second in stature to Ephrem the Syrian and equal to Narsai. He lived most of his life as an ecclesiastical official in Suruç, located in modern-day Turkey. He would finally become a bishop (of Batnan) near the end of his life in 519. He belonged to a Miaphysite or Non-Chalcedonian Christianity, although he was fairly moderate compared to a number of his contemporaries.

The positive reception of his work earned him various nicknames, including "Flute of the Holy Spirit" (alongside his predecessor Ephrem the Syrian) and "Lyre of the Believing Church" (in Antiochene Syriac Christianity). Writing in the late seventh and early eighth centuries, Jacob of Edessa attributed 763 mimre to him, of which 400 remain extant, at least 225 have been edited and published, and the longest of which is 1,400 verses. His prolific work had already achieved him a great reputation before the end of his lifetime, and his extant corpus makes him the third-largest single author collection of homilies from late antiquity, behind only Augustine of Hippo and John Chrysostom.

Life
Jacob was born around the middle of the fifth century in the village of Kurtam (ܟܘܪܬܘܡ) on the Euphrates in the ancient region of Serugh, which stood as the eastern part of the province of Commagene (corresponding to the modern districts of Suruç and Birecik). He was educated in the famous School of Edessa and became chorepiscopus back in the Serugh area, serving rural churches of Haura (ܚܘܪܐ, Ḥaurâ). His tenure of this office extended over a time of great trouble to the Christian population of Mesopotamia, due to the fierce war carried on by the Sasanian emperor Kavadh I within the Roman borders.

In 519 and at the age of 67, Jacob was elected bishop of the main city of the area, called in Syriac Baṭnān d-Sruḡ (ܒܛܢܢ ܕܣܪܘܓ). As Jacob was born in the same year as the controversial Council of Chalcedon, he lived through the intense rifts that split Eastern Christianity, which led to most Syriac speakers being separated from Byzantine communion. Even though imperial persecution of anti-Chalcedonians became increasingly brutal towards the end of Jacob's life, he remained surprisingly quiet on such divisive theological and political issues. However, when pressed in correspondence by Paul, bishop of Edessa, he openly expressed dissatisfaction with the proceedings of Chalcedon.

Literary activity
The primary genres Jacob composed his writings in, for which he is now best known for today, include those of sugyoto (dialogue poems with an acrostic), turgome (prose homilies for liturgical feasts), madroshe and mimre (narrative or verse poems without strophies).

Jacob's homilies on the Genesis creation narrative was the first Hexaemeron to be composed in the Syriac language. Later, Jacob of Edessa would also compose his own Hexaemeron.

Jacob's literary activity was unceasing. According to Bar Hebraeus (Chron. Eccles. i. 191) he employed 70 amanuenses and wrote in all 760 metrical homilies, besides expositions, letters and hymns of different sorts. Paul Bedjan's edition of selected metrical homilies (Paris 1905–1908) containing 146 pieces all written throughout in dodecasyllabic metre, and those published deal mainly with biblical themes, though there are also poems on such subjects as the deaths of Christian martyrs, the fall of the idols and the First Council of Nicaea.

Of Jacob's prose works, which are not nearly so numerous, the most interesting are his letters, which throw light upon some of the events of his time and reveal his attachment to Miaphysitism, which was then struggling for supremacy in the Syriac churches, and particularly at Edessa, over the opposite teaching of Nestorius.

Jacob gained sufficient repute as an author and composer of works that others began to compose works and pseudonymously attribute them to Jacob, one example being the Song of Alexander, thought to have been written sometime between the last quarter of the sixth and the first half of the seventh century.

Political affairs
Towards the end of his life, the fate of Miaphysite leaders such as himself took a turn for the worse with the accession of Justin I (r. 518–527) to the throne of the Byzantine Empire. In response to these affairs, Jacob composed two letters and they were composed in the following context. First, on March 28, 519, Justin adopted a pro-Chalcedonian text known as the Formula of Faith which had been written by Pope Hormisdas a few years beforehand, in 515. However, Paul of Edessa, the bishop of Edessa, refused to sign the text, which led Justin to lay siege to the city in November. Paul was exiled, but after forty days was allowed to be let back into the city in December. Immediately thereafter, Jacob wrote his Letter 32 to Paul. In it, he called Paul a "confessor", a title reserved for those who were persecuted but not killed for their faith. Jacob believe that Paul's refusal to sign the text was correct. After a military leader named Patricius invaded Edessa to, Jacob then composed his Letter 35 to the military leader of the city, Bessas. Bessas is praised for his faith which has helped to exalt the city. Jacob recognizes the suffering Bessas had endured for his faith as well and compares him with Abgar of Edessa, the man credited with introducing Christianity to Edessa. To some surprise, aside from praising these two, Jacob also praised the faith of Justin in his letter to Paul: for allowing Paul to return to the city, by comparing him to Abgar, by describing his crown which displays features of the cross of Jesus, and more.

Another affair that Jacob became somewhat involved in was during the persecutions of the Christian community of Najran under the Himyarite king Dhu Nuwas, which had caused widespread reactions in the world of Syriac Christianity. Between 518 and 521, Jacob composed his Letter to the Himyarites to help extol them for their faith and their endurance. This text is also the only extant literary composition that was sent into pre-Islamic Arabia.

Works
Jacob is especially famous for his metrical homilies in the dodecasyllabic verse of which, says Bar Hebraeus, he composed over eight hundred known to us. Only a selection of them have been published in modern translations, but an ongoing translation series is underway and being published by Gorgias Press. As of 2018, 20% of Jacob's corpus had been translated and 33% had been assigned to scholars for translation. The most recent compilation of the works of Jacob is Roger-Youssef Akhrass and Imad Syryany, eds., 160 Unpublished Homilies of Jacob of Serugh (Damascus 2017), 1:xiv – xxiii.

Homilies on specific figures

 * Mary, mother of Jesus — Also —
 * Women whom Jesus met —
 * Veil of Moses —
 * Ephrem the Syrian —
 * Simeon Stylites —
 * Thomas the Apostle —
 * Melchizedek —
 * Letters —
 * Thomas the Apostle in India –
 * Aaron the High Priest —
 * Abgar and Addai —
 * Samson —
 * Paul —
 * Jonah and the Ninevites — Translation of a partial Armenian translation of a now-lost fuller homily by Jacob.

Homilies on creation

 * Four homilies on creation.
 * Homily on the seven days of creation translated by Edward G. Mathews Jr.:
 * First day:
 * Second day of creation.
 * Third day.
 * Fourth day.
 * Fifth day.
 * Sixth day.
 * Seventh day.
 * Jacob of Serugh's Hexaemeron.

Other homilies

 * Prose homilies (turgame) —
 * Stanzaic poetry —
 * Seven homilies against the Jews, of which the sixth takes the form of a dispute (ܣܓܝܬܐ sāḡiṯâ) between personifications of the Synagogue and the Church —
 * On the dominical feasts —
 * Concerning the red heifer —
 * God's love towards humanity and the just —
 * Seeking above outer darkness —
 * Edessa and Jerusalem —