A FRAGMENT OF EPHRAEM THE SYRIAN AND

THE RARE WORD aatavrco? VINDICATED

T. S. PATTIE

ADDITIONAL MS. 39583 is a miscellany of fragments collected by Robert Curzon, thewriter of Travels to Monasteries in the Levant. One ofthe fragments, f. 14, is a single leafwritten in Greek in about the tenth century in upright so-called 'Slavonic' uncials. Onthe facing page Curzon made a note in pencil: 'One leaf of a Greek Manuscript ofthe7th or 8th century A.D. in small uncial letters, with accents, this leaf was found in thebinding of a manuscript of more recent date, in the library ofthe monastery of Caracalla,on Mount Athos.' It contains a portion of Ephraem the Syrian's 'Sermo Compunctorius'(Clavis Patrum Graecorum 3908), corresponding to pp. 37C^-38E^ of Volume I ofAssemani's six-volume edition of the works of Ephraem.

It contains the rare word aoidvrcos., which the context shows means 'without effort'or 'without a struggle'. 'Do you suppose that the saints received their crowns of gloryaaidvTcos and without toil or tribulation.?' The word occurs only here and in Anastasiusof Sinai, 'Quaestiones et Responsiones', qu. 96 (Migne, Patrologta Graeca, vol. 89, col.748B), where Anastasius is dealing with the question, 'What happens at the point ofdeath ?' He says that because of a fundamental mixture of the elements a husband cansurvive many wives, and vice versa, and a good man can fight to the last gasp before hissoul is forcibly broken away from his body, while a bad man can be separated from hisbody peacefully and without a struggle {aoidvTws). Pleurisy can cause sudden death toimpious and pious alike, peacefully {aaidvrojs) in the very act of eating and drinking andtalking. I am grateful to Francesca Albini for pointing out that both Anastasius andEphraem use this word in connection with a separation, of mind from body, soul fromlife. This suggests a common source. If Ephraem was largely translated and adapted intoGreek by about 500, Anastasius may have taken the word from Ephraem.

Now its form is unusual, and editors have tried to emend it. G. W. H. Lampe, APatristic Greek Lexicon (1961), p. 243, gives doidvrojs as an error for doivdvrojs. E. A.Sophocles, Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods (1914), p. 261, givesduLdvTOJs as an error for 6.oivd)s. The proposed reading daivdvrojs is not attested andpresumably is a variant of doiv-r^s meaning 'unharmed, or harmless'. Migne suggests6 , meaning 'without force or violence'. Assemani silently corrects datavTOj? to

, meaning 'just so' or 'anyhow'. But it is not a question ofthe saints winningtheir crowns of glory unharmed, or harmlessly, or under compulsion, but because they

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put in a lot of effort. 'Just so' is clearly inadequate here. I propose that the word iscorrect as it appears in the manuscripts, and means ' Asianically, or basking in idleluxury'. The inhabitants of 'Asia', the Greek cities of the eastern coast of Anatolia(modern Turkey), were a by-word for 'luxurious living'. Then aatavrco? will be anadverb derived from 'Aatavo^,' Asianic', through an unattested verb datatVo), to behavehke the idle and effete Asiatics, not to have to fight for very existence. Indeed, theinhabitants of the city in Cavafy's 'Waiting for the Barbarians' illustrate exactly theattitude of passively waiting for what is going to happen without doing anything aboutit. Before giving the Greek text, here is an English translation of the text of this folio:

[How blessed are they who walk the narrow road, and how tormented are they who walk the wide]and broad road. Come, then, and leave the wide road which leads to perdition. Let us toil a shorttime, so that we may reign for ages without end, always keeping before our eyes him who iscoming to judge the quick and the dead, and always remembering eternal life, and the immortalkingdom, when we shall sing with the angels, and spend our life with Christ.

Keep in mind that life has nothing but tears and abuse and insults, and idleness and toil,and sickness and old age, and sin and death: do not love the world. Watch lest this world delightyou and deceive you and send you naked into the next world. Remember him who says: 'Prayunceasingly'. Do not take pleasure in the brilliance of life; let the psalms ever be in your mouth.And the Lord himself, of himself, warns and encourages us to make ourselves ready for the nextworld. And let us cure by tears whatever sins and transgressions we have committed, as long aswe have time for repentance.

The time for repentance is short, and to the kingdom of heaven there is no end. We bless thesaints, and long for their crowns, but we do not wish to imitate their suffering. Or do you supposethat they were crowned, as you too desire, without toil and tribulation, without a struggle(daiarroj?)? You wish to hear what kind of rest the saints have in this life: some were bastinadoedto death, 'Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds andimprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were slain with the sword; theywandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom theworld was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and caves ofthe earth' (Heb. i r : 36-8). Look, you have heard only a part ofthe saints' delights and respitein life and how they submitted joyfully to these trials, because they foresaw the good things storedup in heaven, 'which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered the heart of man'. Eor God,when he is called, puts evil spirits to flight. Even if you stir your hand to works, let the tonguesing psalms, let the mind pray; if you wish to be released from punishment, do not revile anyone.

Woe to the impious man: when all men are illuminated, he will be in darkness. Woe to theblasphemer, for his tongue will be bound, and how will he be able to defend himself to the judge?Woe to the avaricious, for wealth will escape him and the fire awaits him. Woe to the idle, forhe will seek the time which he has wasted, but when he seeks it, he will not find it. Woe to theadulterer, for he defiles the bridal robe, and will be expelled from the royal wedding feast indisgrace. Woe to the reviler and with him the drunkard, for they are classed with murderers andpunished with adulterers. Woe to him who wallows in luxury for a while, for he will be soughtout like a lamb to the slaughter. Woe to the hypocrite, for the shepherd will deny him, and the

84

^

^ ^

fcii ru» M i H f A

lA2(m<3t:tf|-fa^*f

^. / . Add. MS. 39583, f 14

wolf will snatch him. Blessed is he who walks the narrow road, for he will rise, crowned, toheaven.

The leaf, which has been trimmed on the inner margin, measures 226 x 188 mm, andthe text space measures 175 x 130 mm. The recto is the hair side, and the verso the fleshside. The ruling, on the hair side, is ioDin according to the classification of J. Leroy,Les Types de Reglure des Manuscrits Grecs (1976). Three two-line initials project into themargin, 77, M, T. They begin new sentences, which is not as obvious as it seems, for veryoften such an initial is at the beginning of the first complete line of a sentence, and thesentence itself begins in the middle of the preceding line. Like most manuscripts, thespelling shows the usual alternation of e/at and t/iy/et, e.g. eVatpot for ercjoot, x^ptas forXopetas, TTapaTT^jj.xjjei for TrapaTTeixifjrj, alyiois for alyeiois^ Aot6o/3?yat? for XocSoprjorjs- Iotasubscript is not written. There is a little uncertainty about breathings and accents, e.g.ovs for ovs, inlTTodovfjiGv for €7n7To6ovfji€v, which also illustrates the separate accentuationof compound verbs, of which another example is TrapiTreaofj-ev. Similarly orav is spelledor' av. Mev and Se have a double grave accent {fxev, 5e). Iota and upsilon sometimes havea trema (two dots). Nu at the end of a line is sometimes indicated by a horizontal barabove a vowel, as in ipxofJ-^vov, TVJV, fxaKapil^oyiev, TTOXXOJV, and in a'n^v\rev6ev, wherethe line break comes in the middle ofthe word. A smooth breathing is put over the finalK and X. e.g. OVK elSe, ek^dXXerai, ovx ^vprjoei. There are five 'nomina sacra':

pTo)v, K{vpLo)s, ov{pa)voi?, Oiv{9pa)7T)ov, and 9{e6)s.In the transcript round brackets indicate an expansion of an abbreviation, and square

brackets indicate letters missing because of damage. I think there is not enough room forthe gamma of ky.TTaiyyLOJv, so I have enclosed the gamma in angled brackets, indicatingan editorial correction. Some ofthe letters have been damaged, and are marked by dotsunder them.

f 14 recto

1. /cat kvpvxojpov ohov n^pl Trarovvrcs' Sevre ovv2. d(j>evT€s rrfv TrXarelav o86v TTJV airayovoav eis3. TTjv aTTCoXetav, Komaoco^ev jxiKpov xpovov, cva4. paotXevaojiJ.€v els rovs 6.7Tepdvrovs l^.TIdvTOT€ TTpO 6(f}0aXfJ.(Ji}V ^XOVTCS. TOV

6. KpLvat [,d>vras /cat veKpovs' Kal det7. T€? rrjs alojvLOV ^corjs, /cat rrjs dOavdrov8. rrjs jxerd dyyeXojv xopias' /cat rrjs fjierd X(ptOTo)v9. yrjs- ivOvfxridrjrt on ovSev e^et 0 ptog, el (JLTJ 3a

10. Kpva /cat ovet8iO[j.ovs /cat XotSopias' Kal paOvfii11. a? /cat TTOVovs' /cat voaous" /cat yrjpas' /cat afj-aprtas'12. /cat Odvarov, Kal \XT] dyaTTTjarjs rov KOOfj^ov pXe13. 7T€ fjLT] repijjTj oe 6 Koafxos ovros Kal aKeXtar}- /cat yv14. fjivov 7rapa7repi\j)ei els eKetvov rov atcOi a

86

15- fJ'dveve rov Xeyovros dStaXetTrrcos 7Tp6

i6 . Mr} ev(f)palvov rots rov ptov dvOrjpoiS' o

17- navrore eirl rov arofiards oov earw /cat avros

18. o K(vpto)s 5 t ' eavrov vovderet Kal TrapaKaXer 'iva a7Te

19. revdev €vrp€7rLaa)fjiev iavrovs' Kal e'l ri rjfjiap

20. Tp[|Ltev] /cat Trapineaofjiev, (Ls exofJ^ey rov rrjs piera

21. [voias Ka]Lp6v 6ta SaKpvwv depa[7Te]yGojfj,ev 6 /cat

22. [pos r]r]s fxeravoias oXcyos earl. r[rjs] Se ^aatXeLas rd)

23. ov(pa)ya)v reXos OVK eon' rovs aytovs fjiaKapi^ofxe ,

24. /ca[t To]i'[?] Gre<f>dvovs avrwv iTrlTToOovfjiev' rovs

25* 8e [dya}v]as avrwv, ov OeXofxev fxtixTJoaoOaL'

26. 7; SoKetre on x^P^^ Konwv Kal OXiijjeojv doidvrcos

27. eore(f>(xy<x)6r]oav. cooirep /cat iijuet? ^ovXeode' Oe

28. Aet? aKoyoat iroiav dvdnaoLV (corr. avdrravoiv) eixov ev ro) ^LOJ rov

29. TO) ot ay[t]ot; ot jLteV erv^TraviaOrjoav' eraipoi he

f. 14 verso

1. eyLTTai(^yyyi-ayv /cat fxaoriywv Tvelpav eXa^ov Kal Sea

2. fxayv /cat cfyvXaKcbv eXiOdoOrjoav' eTTpioOrjoav'

3' ?M ^py^^ ixaxciipas aTreOavov TreplrjXOov ev fj.r]Xa)raLS

4. /c(at) alyCois Sepfjuaoiv vorepovfxevor SXi^ofjievof

5. KaKovxovfjievoL' djv OVK r}v d^ios o K6O[XOS' ev epr]

6. jU-t'atS" nXavcLixevoL Kal opeoi /cat oirr^Xaiois Kal rals

7. oirals rrjs yrjs' iSov rjKOVoare ^epos e/c rcbv iroXXdr

8. Tr]v rwv Aytajv rpv<l)rjv Kal avdnavOLv ev rcb ^toj

9. Kat CDS ev evcjypoovvr) vrrep^eLvav ravra- e[7T]eL[Srj 7T]po

10. epAeTTov ra airo Keifxeva ayaua ev ov{pa)voLS. a g<po<xA

11. /xos" OVK elhe /cat ovs OVK rjKOVoe Kal enl KapSiav ay{9pw7T)oy

12. OVK dvepr]- 6 6{e6)s yap ovofial^ofxevos, (f}vya8evet rov[s

13. Sacjjiovas' Kav els epya rrjv X^^P^ Kivrjs, r] yXojooa i/'a[A

14. Xeroj- o vovs rrpooevxeoOOJ- edv 6eXr]s e/c rrjs KoXdoe

15. cos pvoOrjvac, fxr]Seva nore XotSoprjuLS' oval rco d

16. vOjLtcD o'rav Trdvres (f>cori^ovrat, e/cetvos" OKorL^eroi.[t.

17. ouat rd) pXao<j>ri^oj. Sea/xetTat yap rrjv yXchooav /c[at

18. 7TWS aTToXoyrjaaoOat irpos rov KpLrrjv ov Svvarar

19. ouat rco TrXeoveKrrj- on 6 nXovros avrov <j)eyy€t /c(at)

20. ro TTvp avT[o^' v^noSex^rai' oval rw pa6vfj,[oj^' t,rjrrj

21. oet yap rov K0.[ip6v,] ov /ca/ccu? eSaTrdvrjoe, Q^rjrrjoas Se

22. ovx evpijoer [o]vat TCD (fjiXoTropvw on pU77atVe[t

23. oroXr]v vvix(f>LKrjv, /cat j8acTtAt/coO ydfxov [jLtJer' attr

24. x^^V^ e/cjSdAAeraf owat rco XoiSopco Kal ov[v] avrcj

87

25. TO) [xeOvow on fxera <^oveojv rdoaovr[ai /cat] yi{erd)

26. {xoix(J^v KoXd^ovrat' oval ro) rpvcjxjjvri XPPVPV

27. oXlyoVy on (hs dfxvos els o<j)ayrjv l,rjrr)6rio[era\i.

28. ouat TO) VTTOKpirrjj on 6 TTOLfirjv avrov dp[v]eLrg.i

29. /c(at) o XvKOS apTrdl^er /xa/capto? 6 rrjv ore[vrj^v oSov

The following manuscripts were collated by means of microfilms acquired with a grantfrom the British Academy:

Pe Paris, BN gr. 598, ff. 26-27 (A.D. 1050). F. 26 begins at the same point as our fragment, butf. 26V does not coincide with the verso

Pc Paris, BN gr. 595, ff. 286-287 (n th century)Pb Paris, BN gr. 593, ff. 145-146 (n th century).Jb Jerusalem, St Saba 34, ff. I56r^-i56v^ (A.D. 1310)Ba Berlin, SBPK fol. 18, ff. 37'-37v' (13th century)S Vatican, Vat. Reg. gr. 16, ff. I57v^-i58v^ (13th century)Sa Sinai, St Catherine's, gr. 332, ff. ii6v^-ii7v^ (14th and 12th century)A London, BL Add. MS. 17045, ff. 116-117V (17th century)H Vienna, Vind. Hist. gr. 38, ff. 271^-272^ (15th century)

It is striking that this treatise does not appear in manuscripts like F Q_Y (Vienna, Vind.theol. gr. 165; Vatican, Reg. gr. 8; Vatican, Vat. gr. 1815), which according to mycollations of manuscripts of 'De Paenitentia' belong to a distinct class. We find thetreatise in the ' Assemani-text', and two manuscripts of what is probably a Western text,namely Pb and Ba. In 'De Paenitentia' Pb and Ba belonged to the tradition from whichthe Slavonic version was translated, and Pb-Ba and F-Qj-Y are branches ofthe traditionfrom which the Latin Version was made. The manuscripts ofthe 'Assemani-text', towhich this manuscript clearly belongs, have a coherent tradition, which begins to breakup in the fifteenth century, and the 'Western' text shows dislocations and disturbancesof the text.

RECTO1-2. 6S6v 7T€pL7Tarovvres Seure ovv a<f)€vr€g rrjv nXarciav 686v] om. Ba; ^a8il,ovres Pb

4. aTrepdvrovs] om. Ba5. exovTes] exf^p-ev rov Qdvarov Kal Ba Pb6-7. iivjjp.ovevovre';] ixvr}fiov€va<ji}^€v Ba Pb C^^rjs] om. Sa; /coAdaeoj? Ba Pb /cat rrjs

ddavdrou /3aatAGt'a?] om. H ; /cat aOavdrov toTJ? Sa; /cat rrjs adavdrou ^aatAeta? /cat

Ba Pb8. rrjs fierd dyyeXojv xop^^'a?] om. Ba Pb /cat] om. H

9. ivdviXTJdrjri] evOv^wp^ev Ba Pb

10. ovetStcr/Ltou?] oveihr] Ba Pb

11. vooovs Kal yrjpas] yrjpas Kal VOGOVS Ba12. Kal p,rj] fiT] Ba Pb dya-mjorjs] dyaTtrjaeLS H

1 2 - 1 3 . jSAcVe p,r}] pXeirere fxrj p,€v A ; /LtiySe r a iv KOGp^co p,r]8e B a ; /xT^Se P b

13. CKeXiari] add. ae Ba P b ; OKcXXLarj Jb S14. yvp.v6v] yvfivdv G€ Pb16. rov pLov dv6r]pots] dvOrjpois rov ^LOV rovrov Ba Pb17. €7Ti rov GTOixaros] iv rw Gr6p,ari Ba Pb17-Verso 12. omitted here and placed at Ass. 35B^ Ba Pb17-18. avTOs 6 Kvpios] avrov rov Kvpiov Ba; rrjv Se i/jvxvv p^rj 8vvap,evixjv diroKrelvat Pb18. St' kavTOV vovOerei Kal irapaKaXel tva] om. Ba; "va Pb St' eavrov] A Pb S Sa; d(^'

iavrov H19. et' Tt] et rivL A20. 7Ta/)e7re'CTOjLtev] 7Tap€7r€Gap,ev Pb20—21. TOi Tijs jLterat'Oia?] om. Ba Pb21. Sta] om. Ba ^epaTreutrcu/Ltei'] fli^^. iavrots Ba22. eart] eartV Ba Pb23. eGri] ex^i A; €Griv Pb jLta/capt' OjLtev] Sa; p.aKapi^cop.ev Ass. H

24. €7Tt7ro^oiJ/Ltev] A H J b Pc Pe S; i7TiQvp.ovp,€v Sa; i7riQvp.6jp.ev Ass.; /cat rd? p,vrip.as Ba; ow.

Pb26. x^P''^" KOTrujv Ka\ dXiifjecov doLdvrojs] datavTW? x^P^^ KOTTOJV /cat dXixjieojv Pb x

KOTTOJv /cat] ai'eu Ba d(TtdvTajs-] H Jb Pb Pc Pe S Sa; cLaaurajs- Ass.; om. A Ba27. ojGirep Kal voxels /SouAeu^e] om. Ba Pb28. ^t'oj] /coVjuoj Ba Pb28—29. ^^ " " i^'V rovTOJ ol dytoL] ol dytoi ev rco ^loj TOVTOJ PC

29. eVatpot] erepoL Ass. A H Sa; om. Ba Pb Se] om. Ba Pb

VERSO

1. ip,7Taiyp.{hv^ ip.7Taiyp.cov re Ba; ip.7TeypiWvres Pb1—2. Kal SeofKov Kal ^uAa/caJv] om. Ba Pb2. ( uAa/ccui ] (f)vXaK7Js Ass. A H Jb Pc Pe S Sa eTrpiV^T^crav] om. A;

Pb3—4. fXTjXcorals Kal] om. Pb4. /cat atyi'ot?] ei' aty^tots Ass. A Ba H J b Pc Pe S Sa5. /ca/couxoujLtefot] hra/coxoujLtefot A Ba cbv] cov Ass.7. iSou] om. Ba rjKovaare] rjKOVGas Ba Pb8. rrjv rojv dytojv rpv(f)T)v] Trjs rcbv dyiwv rpv<j>rj£ Ba Pb8—9. avdnavGLv iv rco ^Ico /cat ojs iv ev<ppoGvvr]] d7ToXavGeojs', avrrj rj x"pd avrd)v Kal -q

evcjipoGvvr] Ba; dvarravGeojs' avrrj rj x^pd avrcbv Kal rj ev^poGvvrj Pb9. V7refxeLvav] uTre/xevov Se Ba Pb9—10. TTpoejSAeTTov] epXenov Sa

10. iv ovpavots"] TTOta Ba11. eiSe] olSe Ba -qKOVGe] - /coucrev Pc13. Kav] Kal Pb epya rrjv x^^P^ Ktvrjs] x^^P^^ ^^^ " ^ epyov GOV iKretvrjg Ba; epyov ras

Xetpds GOV iKreivrjs Pb yAcoacra] yAonjaa GOV Pb14. o vou?] Kal 6 vovs Ba Pb e/c] t?w. Ba Pb

15- pvGdijvaL] XvrpcoOrjvai Ba P b Sa p,rjheva TTOTC] ,ui78e irore p.r]8eva Ba

Xoi8oprjGis] XoiSopTjorjs Ass. Sa

16. orav\ on. orav Ba Pb

17. yXcjjGGav\ yXcorrav Sa

18. 7Tcos] om. Ba P b 7rp6s rov Kpirrjv] rw Kpirfj Ba; rov Kpirrjv P b

20. auToi'] om. P b

21. i8a7TdvrjG€] i8a7rdvrjG€v P b [^rjr-qGas] A H J b S Sa; ^rjrrJGei Ass. ; om. Ba Pb

21-22 . Se oux evprjGei] Kal ov p.r} evprj Ba P b

21. Se] om. A

22. pv7TaLveL] pv7rei Ba; pvTToi P b

22—23. ' ' ^ jSaCTtAt/cou ydjMOV fxer^ alaxvvrjs e/c/SdAAerat] /cat iK^dXXerai p.er'

^aGiXiKoO ydfxov Ba; /cat e/cjSdAAeTat /xeT' ato'xw'Jj? P b

23. /cat] A H Jb Pc Pe S Sa; rod Ass.24. e/c/3a'AAeTat] e/cjSdAerat Pe

25. jLterd 0ot'e'ajv] ovrot (xerd (j>ovevrcov Ba; ovroi p^erd rwv 0oveuTOJv Pb

Tdaooi'Tat] rdrrovrai Ba Pb

26—27. ouat TO) rpvcjxhvTL xpdvov oXtyov on OJS dp.v6s els G<f>ayrjv t^rjrrjdrjGerai] om. Ba

27. djLti'os] dpivd} A l,r]rriBrjGerai\ Girit^erai P b

28. oTt] om. Ba P b Trot/Lti)!'] 7T0ip.rjv yap P b

29. Au/co?] AiJfco? auToi' P b /xafcd/Dtos 6] 6 p^aKdpios A