Hymns

Description

PDF_OCR: St. Ephrem's De virginitate, excerpt from pp. 260-468 (PDF pp. 276-484), Tesseract-OCR of PDF format's foreground layer.

Arthur Rosh, [13/10/25 15:38]:

Composed by Ephrem in the last years of his life, the 52 hymns on Virginity exalt Christ manifested in the harmony of the three harps that are the two Testaments and nature:

Wherever you look, there is His symbol; and in all that you read, you find his prefigurations. He is like the fragrance of incense grains, like the taste of a fruit in the mouth.

The hymns are divided into stanzas, usually of eight lines (sometimes six, five, three, or seven), ordinarily with a short refrain (e.g. Praise to Your humiliation!) and an indication of the melody (e.g. to the tune of Your flock in sadness). The nine poems dedicated to Jonah and Nineveh are composed in couplets.

Let us note the various sections: virginity (1-3); the light (51-52)… and above all the beatitudes (Blessed is the well where He rested)… blessed are you, Martha, who filled the granary…) and the thanksgivings: for Nazareth, where Jesus was raised; for Cana, where He turned water into six kinds of wine; for the place where He spat; for Ephraim, whose number 331 is the sum of "cross" (133) and "crucified" (198); for Jericho, where Zacchaeus’s fig tree deserved curses; for Shechem, where Ephrem rehabilitates the Samaritan woman, protected by her pseudo-husband.

The theme of substitution is developed in relation to Judaism:

With the beginning of the Nations comes the end of the People… you have rendered Zion barren and made your Church fruitful… the circumcised have driven out their King, who has gone to Shechem, filled with pagans.

In the index of names, we note the twenty names of Satan (the cunning one, the defiled one, the voracious one, the pitiable one…), whose schemes in the desert Ephrem describes at length; and the seventy titles of Christ: the Fountain, the Spring, the Sea, the Torrent… the Clear One, the Silent One, the Peaceful One.

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cited in Unger O.F.M. Cap. ref:19.18:

Some of the ancient Christian poets also sang the praises of virginal chastity. Worthy of mention are: St. Ephraem of Edessa , St. Gregory Nazianzen (who wrote six compositions on virginity: the first is 732 hexameters), Pope St. Damasus (who made some epigrams), St. Avitus (who wrote his poem of 666 hexameters to his sister, Fuscina, a consecrated virgin), and Venantius Fortunatus.

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Hymn 22 contains St. Ephrem's very interesting interpretating paralleling the Samaritan women in John 4 with Hannah and other barren wives. The editors summarize (p. 354, PDF p. 370):

It is not the case that this woman has been divorced and remarried five times and is therefore reproached by Jesus for immorality. Instead she is the victim of a plight like that of Sarah before her marriage to Tobias (str. 4–5). Because the deaths of five successive husbands made all fearful of marrying her and yet to be unmarried subjected her to reproach, she had devised a false marriage for the sake of appearances. Far from being virtually a harlot, as others assume, Ephrem argues that her secret revealed by Jesus is that she is living chastely in her marriage (str. 12–13). This is evident on three grounds: 1) the confidence of her manner of argument (str. 5–9); 2) Jesus’ willingness to speak along with her (str. 5, 10–11); and 3) several typological precedents for her behavior for example, others, notably Elizabeth and Hannah were chagrined by their lack of husbands or children (str. 14–15); just as the unmasking of a deception by Abraham and Sarah about Sarah’s marital status led to the respect of a Gentile king for God, the unveiling of this woman’s deception led to the belief of a city of Gentiles (str. 16–18); just as Tamar disguised her marital status for the sake of continuing the messianic line so the deception of the Samaritan woman led to the revelation of the Messiah to her people (str 19–20).

cf. "What other Church Fathers, besides St. Ephrem, thought that the Samaritan woman in John 4 was in a lawful (or virginal?) marriage with her husband?"

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Quæritur:

St. Ephrem composed many hymns, but have their melodies been discovered yet?

p. 1:

One can only regret that there seems to be no way of restoring the musical melodies, which he doubtlessly composed also, and which were an integral part of his meditation on the mysteries of the faith.

p. 63:

Although the melodies to which these hymns were sung are no longer known, the manuscript tradition identified each tune by the first few words of what was evidently a well-known hymn.

(like how the kyriales get their names)

Respondetur:

Some of St. Ephraem, Syrus' hymns have been transalted to fit the styke of modern hymnody. Others have been translated, but are non - metrical.
See
https://hymnary.org/person/Ephraem_Saint

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xiii, 474 pages ; 23 cm

Includes bibliographical references

Hymns on the Nativity -- Hymns against Julian -- The hymns on virginity and on the symbols of the Lord

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10/14/25: 4

gal w homer type of rabbinic exegesis

?

10/14/25: 7

it is not able, if stolen, to be sought out again. O you, virginity, your destruction is simple for all, but your restoration is easy only for the Lord of all.

So does he believe it can be restored or not?

10/14/25: 7

beryls,

?

10/14/25: 8

She accepted death willingly after being allowed two months in the wilderness to “mourn her virginity.”

Ah, so she didn‘t regret being a virgin, but that she wouldn‘t live much longer in the flesh to be one?

10/14/25: 11

Do not borrow from the one who lends and does not demand, for if you repay his money you would make him poor.

Speaking of almsgiving?

10/14/25: 16

Luke 19.16—-18 and Matt. 25.16. 6 obols = 1 denarius, 100 denarii = 1 mina, 60 minas = 1 talent.

Is this why widowhood gives sixtyfold increase?

10/14/25: 18

The sense would suggest “oppressor” rather than “oppressed,” but the Syriac is passive.

So passive is neutral?

11/19/25: 52

165. Ephrem evidently shared the view that Adam and Eve were children and hence more easily deceived by Satan. Cf. Nat. 7.11, 26.8 and notes ad loc.

Who else thought Adam & Eve were children?

11/19/25: 59

promissory

?

11/21/25: 70

scrutinize

= ? in Syriac?

11/21/25: 70

Our hunger reproves us, for humans need bread but not to scrutinize it.

11/21/25: 70

investigation.

= ? in Syriac?

11/22/25: 80

Depending on the vocalization, /wy’ may mean either “companion” or “Levite.”

12/11/25: 90

exegetical technique of gematria,

= ?

12/11/25: 104

The two hymns on the Samaritan woman

Hymns 22-23

12/11/25: 105

24 This hymn returns to the theme of the first three of the collection: virginity, theologically understood.

12/14/25: 115

kenotic imagery

?

12/14/25: 116

Surprisingly, in cases where the gospel account seems to imply a reproach from Jesus to the woman, Ephrem seems unaware or ignores this feature (str. 3, 5, 9, 12—13).

12/15/25: 138

Ephrem enumerates four births of Christ: the generation from the Father, the birth from Mary in the incarnation, the baptism by John, and the emergence from Sheol at the resurrection.

similar to Innocent III’s 4 types of marriage

12/15/25: 138

paean

?

12/15/25: 140

Memory

What’s the Syriac?

12/16/25: 168

haggadic

?

12/19/25: 199

blood money

12/19/25: 206

His perfect commandment is for the perfect, and the gentle711 commandments for the avemge.712

counsels vs. commandments?