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Ephrem the Syrian (or Ephrem the Syriac; (''Mār Aprêm Sûryāyâ'');〔Various other renderings of the name from different Syriac dialects exist. The modern West Syriac pronunciation is ''Mor Afraim Suryoyo'', while the East has ''Mar Aprim Suryaya''.〕 Greek: ; (ラテン語:Ephraem Syrus); ca. 306 – 373) was a Syriac deacon and a prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century from the region of Syria. His works are hailed by Christians throughout the world, and many denominations venerate him as a saint. He has been declared a Doctor of the Church in Roman Catholicism. He is especially beloved in the Syriac Orthodox Church. Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as prose biblical exegesis. These were works of practical theology for the edification of the church in troubled times. So popular were his works, that, for centuries after his death, Christian authors wrote hundreds of pseudepigraphal works in his name. Ephrem's works witness to an early form of Christianity in which Western ideas take little part. He has been called the most significant of all of the fathers of the Syriac-speaking church tradition.〔Parry (1999), p. 180〕 ==Life== Ephrem was born around the year 306 in the city of Nisibis (now Nusaybin in Turkey, on the border with Syria, in Roman Mesopotamia, then recently acquired by the Roman Empire). Internal evidence from Ephrem's hymnody suggests that both his parents were part of the growing Christian community in the city, although later hagiographers wrote that his father was a pagan priest.〔(Labourt, Jérôme. "St. Ephraem." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 8 Mar. 2015 )〕 Numerous languages were spoken in the Nisibis of Ephrem's day, mostly dialects of Aramaic. The Christian community used the Syriac dialect. The culture included pagan religions, Judaism and early Christian sects. Jacob, the second bishop of Nisibis, was appointed in 308, and Ephrem grew up under his leadership of the community. Jacob of Nisibis is recorded as a signatory at the First Council of Nicea in 325. Ephrem was baptized as a youth and almost certainly became a son of the covenant, an unusual form of Syrian proto-monasticism. Jacob appointed Ephrem as a teacher (Syriac ''(unicode:malp̄ānâ)'', a title that still carries great respect for Syriac Christians). He was ordained as a deacon either at his baptism or later.〔Parry (1999), pp. 180-181〕 He began to compose hymns and write biblical commentaries as part of his educational office. In his hymns, he sometimes refers to himself as a "herdsman" (, ''‘allānâ''), to his bishop as the "shepherd" (, ''rā‘yâ''), and to his community as a 'fold' (, ''dayrâ''). Ephrem is popularly credited as the founder of the School of Nisibis, which, in later centuries, was the centre of learning of the Syriac Orthodox Church. In 337, Emperor Constantine I, who had legalised and promoted the practice of Christianity in the Roman Empire, died. Seizing on this opportunity, Shapur II of Persia began a series of attacks into Roman North Mesopotamia. Nisibis was besieged in 338, 346 and 350. During the first siege, Ephrem credits Bishop Jacob as defending the city with his prayers. In the third siege, of 350, Shapur rerouted the River Mygdonius to undermine the walls of Nisibis. The Nisibenes quickly repaired the walls while the Persian elephant cavalry became bogged down in the wet ground. Ephrem celebrated what he saw as the miraculous salvation of the city in a hymn that portrayed Nisibis as being like Noah's Ark, floating to safety on the flood. One important physical link to Ephrem's lifetime is the baptistery of Nisibis. The inscription tells that it was constructed under Bishop Vologeses in 359. In that year, Shapur attacked again. The cities around Nisibis were destroyed one by one, and their citizens killed or deported. Constantius II was unable to respond; the campaign of Julian in 363 ended with his death in battle. His army elected Jovian as the new emperor, and to rescue his army, he was forced to surrender Nisibis to Persia〔 (also in 363) and to permit the expulsion of the entire Christian population. Ephrem, with the others, went first to Amida (Diyarbakır), eventually settling in Edessa 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ephrem the Syrian」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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