{{Short description|Syrian writer and bishop (c. 451–521)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox saint |honorific_prefix= Saint | name = Jacob of Serugh | venerated_in = Catholic Church<br>Oriental Orthodox Church |canonized_date=Pre-congregation|major_shrine=St. Mary Church, Diyarbakır|attributes=Staff, pointed hood, flute|tradition=| feast_day = 29 November (Roman Catholic, Oriental Orthodox)<br>3 Koiak (Coptic calendar) | image =Ancient syriac manuscript jacob of serugh.webp | image_size = | alt = | caption =Syriac depiction of Jacob of Serugh, from ancient manuscript | other_names = | birth_name = |titles=Deacon, Priest, Bishop| birth_date = c. 451 AD | birth_place = Kurtam on the Euphrates (near Harran) | death_date = {{death date|521|11|29|df=y}} AD | death_place = Batnan daSrugh, Byzantine Empire<br />(modern-day Suruç, Urfa, Turkey) | education = }} '''Jacob of Serugh''' ({{langx|syr|ܝܥܩܘܒ ܕܣܪܘܓ|translit=Yaʿquḇ daSruḡ}}, {{IPA|syc|ˌjaˤˈquβ das'ruɣ}}; {{langx|la|Iacobus Sarugiensis}}; {{c.}} 452–521), also called '''Jacob of Sarug''' or '''Mar Jacob''' ({{Langx|syr|ܡܪܝ ܝܥܩܘܒ|translit=Mār Yaʿquḇ}}),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brock |first=Sebastian |date=2011 |title=Yaʿqub of Serugh |url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/entry/Yaqub-of-Serugh |website=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition}}</ref> was one of the foremost poets and theologians of the Syriac Christian tradition, second only to Ephrem the Syrian and equal to Narsai. He lived most of his life as an ecclesiastical official in Suruç, in modern-day Turkey. He became a bishop (of Batnan) near the end of his life in 519.{{Sfn|Chatonnet|Debié|p=150–151|2023}} He was a Miaphysite (a form of Non-Chalcedonian Christianity), albeit moderate compared to his contemporaries.{{Sfn|Forness|2022|p=156}}
Jacob is best known for the homilies he wrote in the late fifth and early sixth centuries. He wrote in prose, as well as in 12-syllable (dodecasyllabic) meter, which he invented, and he was known for his eloquence.{{Sfn|Hilkens|2020|p=65}}{{Sfn|Dinno|2010}} According to Jacob of Edessa, he composed 763 works during his lifetime. Around 400 survive, and over 200 of those have been published. The longest is about 1,400 verses.{{Sfn|Chatonnet|Debié|p=150–151|2023}} By the time of his death, he had a great reputation. His works were so popular that of any author from late antiquity, only the writings of Augustine of Hippo and John Chrysostom survive in a greater number of manuscripts than Jacob's.{{Sfn|Forness|2022|p=156–157}}
His work earned him many nicknames, including "Flute of the Holy Spirit" (which also belonged to his predecessor Ephrem the Syrian), and "Lyre of the Believing Church" (in Antiochene Syriac Christianity).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brock |first=Sebastian |date=2011 |title=Yaʿqub of Serugh |url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Yaqub-of-Serugh |website=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition}}</ref> Both Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian traditions of Christianity now take him as a saint.
==Life== Jacob was born around the middle of the fifth century in the village of Kurtam ({{lang|syc|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 ({{lang|syr|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.{{sfn|McLean|1911|pp=114–115}}
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'' ({{lang|syr|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 Chalcedonian Christianity. 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 and overall Dyophysite Christology.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Menze |first=Volker L. |url=https://ia803404.us.archive.org/7/items/oxford-early-christian-studies-volker-l.-menze-patriarch-dioscorus-of-alexandria/%28Oxford%20Early%20Christian%20Studies%29%20Volker%20L.%20Menze%20-%20Patriarch%20Dioscorus%20of%20Alexandria_%20The%20Last%20Pharaoh%20and%20Ecclesiastical%20Politics%20in%20the%20Later%20Roman%20Empire-Oxford%20University%20Press%20%282023%29.pdf |title=Patriarch Dioscorus of Alexandria: The Last Pharaoh and Ecclesiastical Politics in the Later Roman Empire |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2023 |isbn=9780192871336 |language=en}}</ref>
== Literary activity == Jacob's style was to write in the genres of metrical homily (''mimre'') and ''madroshe'' (narrative or verse poems without strophies), ''sugyoto'' (dialogue poems with an acrostic), and ''turgome'' (prose homilies for liturgical feasts).{{Sfn|Chatonnet|Debié|p=150–151|2023}}
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. Jacob's style was to write in dodecasyllabic metre, dealing mainly with biblical themes, but also on the deaths of Christian martyrs, the fall of the idols and the First Council of Nicaea.{{sfn|McLean|1911|p=115}}
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.{{sfn|McLean|1911|p=115}}
The Hexaemeron of Jacob of Serugh was the first Hexaemeral work (dedicated commentary to the Genesis creation narrative) to be composed in Syriac.{{Sfn|Tumara|2024|p=170}} He was followed by other authors, such as Jacob of Edessa's own Hexaemeron.{{Sfn|Romeny|2008|pp=146–147}}
== 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 believed 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.{{Sfn|Forness|2022}} 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.{{Sfn|Forness|2022}}
Another affair that Jacob became somewhat involved in was during the persecutions of the Christian community of Najran under the Jewish 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.{{Sfn|Forness|2019|p=115–131}}{{Sfn|Durmaz|2022|p=75}}
== Reception and memory == Sa'id bar Sabuni (d. 1095) wrote an 1106-line metrical homily in his honor, called The ''Vita of Jacob of Serugh'', performed in order to commemorate the day of his death on November 29. Many more lives/''Vitas'' were written for Jacob's memory, like Habib of Edessa's ''On Jacob of Serugh''.{{Sfn|Kitchen|2023|p=81}}
Jacob's reputation as an author and composer also led many to write new works in his name, a famous example being the Song of Alexander.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Reinink |first=Gerrit J. |date=2003 |title=Alexander the Great in Seventh-Century Syriac 'Apocalyptic' Texts |journal=Byzantinorossica |volume=2 |pages=150–178}}</ref>{{Sfn|Tesei|2023|p=22}}
== Quranic studies == Historians have long observed that the Quran presents versions of biblical and biblically related stories that differ from, or even do not appear in, the Bible. In recent years, Syriac Christianity has been identified as key intermediary and link, showing that the differences between the two texts slowly emerged during Late Antiquity, especially within circles of Syriac Christians.{{Sfn|Witzum|2009}}{{Sfn|Reynolds|2010}} The homilies of Jacob of Serugh, in specific, typically contain some of the closest versions of ideas and narratives compared with those in the Quran, the scripture of Islam, which has made them an increasingly important primary source in field of Quranic studies.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F44Zuimyukg |title=Echoes of Jacob of Serugh in the Qur'ān and Late Antique Reading Culture |date=2022-03-09 |last=Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie d. Wissenschaften |access-date=2026-01-14 |via=YouTube}}</ref> Key examples include narrative{{Sfn|Reynolds|2018|p=451–458}} and eschatology and apocalypse.{{Sfn|Sinai|2017}}
==Works== Jacob is famous for his metrical homilies, written in 12-syllable (dodecasyllabic) verse. According to Bar Hebraeus, Jacob composed over 760 homilies. About 400 have survived, and almost all have appeared in critical editions, primarily in the 6-volume Bedjan-Brock edition (1905–10, 2006) and the 2-volume Akhrass-Syryany edition (2017). A complete numbered list of Jacob's extant homilies was published in Akhrass 2015.{{Sfn|Akhrass|2015|p=133}} As of 2018, 20% of the homilies in the Bedjan-Brock edition have been translated. An ongoing translation project by Gorgias Press aims to bring his entire corpus into English.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gorgias Press |date=2018-06-28 |title=Jacob of Sarug in English Translation |url=https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/article/hv10n1fcjacobofsarug}}</ref>
Jacob also wrote outside of the genre of metrical homily. Jacob wrote stanzaic poetry (with 25 translated to date),{{Sfn|Brock|2022}} prose homily (8 extant),{{Sfn|Forness|2020b|p=97n22}} and other prose works like letters.
=== Manuscripts === Jacob's homilies are found in a substantial number of surviving manuscripts. The earliest are from the sixth and seventh centuries, and massive manuscripts have also been recovered produced in the eleventh-thirteenth centuries containing up to two hundred of Jacob's homilies.{{Sfn|Butts|2020|p=91}}{{Sfn|Forness|2020|p=55–58, 77–79}} A distinct transmission of manuscripts of Jacob's writings also permeated monastic circles.{{Sfn|Forness|2020|p=}}
=== Editions === In 1905–1910, Paul Bedjan published a 5-volume work with critical editions of 195 of these homilies. In 2006, a sixth volume was added by Sebastian Brock, which raised the number (along with contributions from Albert, Stothman, Mouterde, Alwan, etc) to 243 published homilies. Critical editions of the remaining unpublished homilies known to be attributed to Jacob, numbering around 160, were published by Roger Akhrass and Imad Syryany in 2017.{{Sfn|Akhrass|2015|p=87}}{{Sfn|McConaughy|2024|p=2}} * {{cite book|last=Mar Jacobus Sarugensis|editor=Paulus Bedjan|title=Homilae selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis|year=1905|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz|location=Paris|language=Syriac, French}} * {{cite book|last=Iacobus Sarugensis|editor=G Olinder|title=Iacobi Sarugensis epistulae quotquot supersunt|series=Corpus scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, Scriptores Syri, v. 57|year=1952|location=Louvain}} * Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug (6-volume set)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug / Homiliae Selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis (6-volume set) |url=https://www.gorgiaspress.com/homilies-of-mar-jacob-of-sarug-homiliae-selectae-mar-jacobi-sarugensis-6-volume-set |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Gorgias Press LLC |language=en}}</ref> * Roger Akhrass and Imad Syryany, 160 Unpublished Homilies of Jacob of Serugh, 2 vols., Damascus: Department of Syriac Studies
=== Translations === Manuscripts of Jacob's homilies are also found in multiple languages beyond Syriac to which they were translated, including Coptic,{{Sfn|Suciu|2015}} Georgian, Armenian, Arabic,{{Sfn|Butts|2020|p=91–92}}{{Sfn|Hilkens|2020}} and Ethiopic.<ref>Witold Witakowski, “Jacob of Serug,” in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica. Volume 3: HE-N, ed. Siegbert Uhlig (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2007), 262–63.</ref> The number of Jacob's works translated into Arabic number over one hundred,{{Sfn|Butts|2020|p=91–92}} and there are over two hundred Armenian manuscripts of them that date from the twelfth to twentieth centuries.{{Sfn|Hilkens|2020|p=73}}
In modern-times, Behnam Sony has composed a five-volume translation of Jacob's writings into Arabic.<ref>Behnam Sony, Tarǧama min al-suryāniyya ilā l-ʿarabiyya wa-dirāsa ʿalā mayāmir al-malfān mār Yaʿqūb al-sarūǧī, 5 vols., Baghdad, [s.n.], 2003.</ref>
In European languages, Jacob's writings have been widely translated into English, German, French, and Italian.{{Sfn|Forness|2020|p=52–53}}
From the eighteenth century onwards, new discoveries of manuscripts of Jacob's works have sparked no less than three debates over his Christology.{{Sfn|Forness|2022b}}
===List of translations===
==== Homilies on specific figures ==== * '''Mary, mother of Jesus''' — {{cite book|last=Jacob of Serug|editor=Mary Hansbury|title=On the Mother of God|year=1998|publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press|location=Crestwood, New York, US|isbn=0-88141-184-1}} Also — {{cite book|last=Giacomo de Sarug|editor=Constantino Vona|title=Omelie mariologiche|year=1953|publisher=Facultas Theologica Pontificii Athenaei Lateranensis|location=Rome|series=Lateranum: nova ser., an. 19, n. 1-4|language=Italian}} * '''Women whom Jesus met''' — {{cite book|title=Jacob of Sarug's homilies on the Women whom Jesus Met |editor=Susan Ashbrook Harvey |editor2=Sebastian P. Brock |editor3=Reyhan Durmaz |editor4=Rebecca Stephens Falcasantos |editor5=Michael Payne |editor6=Daniel Picus|volume = 44|series=Texts from Christian Late Antiquity |location=Piscataway, N. J. |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4632-0580-5}} * '''Veil of Moses''' — {{cite journal |last=Brock |first=Sebastian Paul |author-link=Sebastian Brock |journal=Sobornost'/Eastern Churches Review|title=Jacob of Serugh on the Veil of Moses |volume=3 |issue=1 |year=1981 |pages=70–85}} * '''Ephrem the Syrian''' — {{cite book|last=Jacob of Sarug|editor=Joseph P Amar|title=A metrical homily on holy Mar Ephrem|year=1995|series=Patrologia Orientalis; t. 47, fasc. 1|publisher=Brepols |location=Turnhout}} * '''Simeon Stylites''' — {{cite book|title=Ascetic behavior in Greco-Roman antiquity: a sourcebook|last=Harvey|first=Susan Ashbrook|editor=Vincent L Wimbush|chapter=Memra on Simeon the Stylite|pages=15–28|year=1990|publisher=Fortress|location=Minneapolis|isbn=0-8006-3105-6}} * '''Thomas the Apostle''' — {{cite book|last=Jakob von Sarug|editor=Werner Strothmann|title=Drei Gedichte über den Apostel Thomas in Indien|series=Göttinger Orientforschungen I Reihe, Syriaca; Bd 12|year=1976|publisher=Harrassowitz|location=Wiesbaden|isbn=3-447-01720-1}} * '''Melchizedek''' — {{cite journal|last=Thokeparampil|first=J|journal=The Harp|title=Memra on Melkizedek|volume=6|pages=53–64|year=1993}} * Letters — {{cite book|last=Bou Mansour|first=Tanios|title=La théologie de Jacques de Saroug|language=French|location=Kaslik|publisher=Université Saint Esprit|year=1993}} * '''Thomas the Apostle in India''' – {{cite book|last=Jacob of Serug|editor=D.P. Curtin|title=The Palace built by Thomas the Apostle in India|series= |year=2007|publisher=Dalcassian|location=Philadelphia|isbn=9798869093387}} * '''Aaron the High Priest''' — {{Cite book |last=Heal |first=Kristian |title=Jacob of Sarug's Homily on Aaron the Priest |date=2022 |publisher=Gorgias Press}} * '''Abgar and Addai''' — {{Cite book |last=Gibson |first=Kelli |title=Jacob of Sarug's Homilies on Abgar and Addai |date=2022 |publisher=Gorgias Press}} * '''Samson''' — {{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Dana |title=Jacob of Sarug's Homily on Samson |date=2021 |publisher=Gorgias Press}} * '''Paul''' — {{Cite book |last1=Hansbury |first1=Mary |title=Jacob of Sarug's Homilies on Paul |last2=Parakkott |first2=Raja |date=2021 |publisher=Gorgias Press}} * '''Jonah and the Ninevites''' — Translation of a partial Armenian translation of a now-lost fuller homily by Jacob. {{Cite journal |last=Hilkens |first=Andy |date=2024 |title=An Armenian Invocational Prayer of a Now Lost Homily of Jacob of Serugh on Jonah and the Ninevites |url=https://academic.oup.com/jts/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jts/flae003/7606275 |journal=Journal of Theological Studies|doi=10.1093/jts/flae003 |doi-access=free }}
==== Homilies on creation ====
* '''Four homilies on creation'''. {{cite book|last=Jaques de Saroug|editor=Khalil Alwan|title=Quatre homélies métriques sur la création|language=French|year=1989|publisher=Peeters|location=Leuven|series=Corpus scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium. Scriptores Syri. 0070-0452; t.214, 215}} * '''Homily on the seven days of creation''' translated by Edward G. Mathews Jr.: ** '''First day''': {{cite book |title=Jacob of Sarug's homilies on the six days of creation. The first day |editor= |volume= |series= |number= |location= |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1607243236}} ** '''Second day of creation.''' {{cite book |title=Jacob of Sarug's homilies on the six days of creation. The second day |editor= |volume= |series= |number= |location= |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2016 |isbn=}} ** '''Third day.''' {{cite book |title=Jacob of Sarug's homilies on the six days of creation. The third day |editor= |volume= |series= |number= |location= |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2016 |isbn=}} ** '''Fourth day.''' {{cite book |title=Jacob of Sarug's homilies on the six days of creation. The fourth day |editor= |volume= |series= |number= |location= |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2018 |isbn=}} ** '''Fifth day.''' {{cite book |title=Jacob of Sarug's homilies on the six days of creation. The fifth day |editor= |volume= |series= |number= |location= |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2019 |isbn=}} ** '''Sixth day.''' {{cite book |title=Jacob of Sarug's homilies on the six days of creation. The sixth day |editor= |volume= |series= |number= |location= |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2020 |isbn=}} ** '''Seventh day.''' {{cite book |title=Jacob of Sarug's homilies on the six days of creation. The seventh day |editor= |volume= |series= |number= |location= |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2021 |isbn=}} * '''Jacob of Serugh's Hexaemeron'''. {{Cite book |last=Muraoka |first=T |title=Jacob of Serugh's Hexaemeron |date=2018 |publisher=Peeters}}
==== Other homilies ====
* '''Prose homilies''' (''turgame'') — {{cite book|title=Six homélies festales en prose|last=Jacques de Saroug|editor=Frédéric Rilliet|series=Patrologia Orientalis; t. 43, fasc. 4|language=French|year=1986|publisher=Brepols|location=Turnhout}} * '''Stanzaic poetry''' — {{Cite book |last=Brock |first=Sebastian |title=The Stanzaic Poems of Jacob of Serugh: A Collection of His Madroshe and Sughyotho |date=2022 |publisher=Gorgias Press}} * '''Prayers''' — {{Cite book |last=Hansbury |first=Mary |title=The Prayers of Jacob of Serugh |date=2015 |publisher=SLG Press}} * '''Seven homilies against the Jews''', of which the sixth takes the form of a dispute ({{lang|syr|ܣܓܝܬܐ}} ''sāḡiṯâ'') between personifications of the Synagogue and the Church — {{cite book|last=Jacques de Saroug|editor=Micheline Albert|editor-link=Micheline Albert|title=Homélies contre les Juifs|series=Patrologia Orientalis; t. 38, fasc. 1|year=1976|publisher=Brepols|location=Turnhout|language=French}} * '''On the dominical feasts''' — {{cite book|last=Jacob of Serugh|editor=Thomas Kollamparampil|title=Select festal homilies|year=1997|publisher=Dharmaram and Centre for Indian and Inter-Religious Studies|location=Bangalore and Rome}} * '''Concerning the red heifer''' — {{Cite book |last=Alibertis |first=Demetrios |title=Jacob of Sarug's Homily Concerning the Red Heifer and the Crucifixion of our Lord |date=2022 |publisher=Gorgias Press}} * '''God's love towards humanity and the just''' — {{Cite book |last=Sirgy |first=Dominique |title=Jacob of Sarug's Homily on the Love of God towards Humanity and of the Just towards God |date=2022 |publisher=Gorgias Press}} * '''Seeking above outer darkness''' — {{Cite book |last=Sirgy |first=Dominique |title=Jacob of Sarug's Homily on Paul's Word to Seek What is Above and on Outer Darkness |date=2022 |publisher=Gorgias Press}} * '''Edessa and Jerusalem''' — {{Cite book |last=Loopstra |first=Jonathan |title=Jacob of Sarug's Homily on Edessa and Jerusalem |date=2021 |publisher=Gorgias Press}}
== See also == {{Portal|Christianity}} *Eastern Christianity *Letter to the Himyarites *Oriental Orthodoxy *Romanos the Melodist
==References==
=== Citations === {{Reflist}}
=== Sources ===
* {{Cite journal |last=Akhrass |first=Roger |date=2015 |title=A list of Homilies of Mor Jacob of Serugh |url=https://www.academia.edu/13099571 |journal=Syriac Patriarchal Orthodox Journal |volume=53 |pages=87–161}} * {{Cite book |last=Butts |first=Aaron Michael |title=Patristic Literature in Arabic Translations |date=2020 |publisher=Brill |editor-last=Roggema |editor-first=Barbara |pages=89–128 |chapter=Diversity in the Christian Arabic Reception of Jacob of Serugh (d. 521) |editor-last2=Treiger |editor-first2=Alexander |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/26605454/Diversity_in_the_Christian_Arabic_Reception_of_Jacob_of_Serugh_d_521_}} * {{Cite book |last1=Chatonnet |first1=Françoise Briquel |title=The Syriac World: In Search of a Forgotten Christianity |last2=Debié |first2=Muriel |date=2023 |publisher=Yale University Press}} * {{Cite book |last=Dinno |first=Khalid |title=Jacob of Serugh and His Times: Studies in Sixth-Century Syriac Christianity |date=2010 |publisher=De Gruyter |editor-last=Kiraz |editor-first=George |pages=51–69 |chapter=Jacob of Serugh, the Man Behind the Mimre |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.31826/9781463216092-006/html}} * {{Cite book |last=Durmaz |first=Reyhan |title=Stories Between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond |date=2022 |publisher=University of California Press}} * {{Cite book |last=Forness |first=Michael |title=Preaching Christology in the Roman Near East: A Study of Jacob of Serugh |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press}} * {{Cite journal |last=Forness |first=Philip Michael |date=2020 |title=New Textual Evidence for Jacob of Serugh's Letters: An Analysis and Collation of Five Monastic Miscellanies |url=https://www.academia.edu/31641775/New_Textual_Evidence_for_Jacob_of_Serugh_s_Letters_An_Analysis_and_Collation_of_Five_Monastic_Miscellanies_Full_Text_ |journal=Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=51–128}} * {{Cite book |last=Forness |first=Michael |title=Narsai: Rethinking his Work and World |date=2020b |publisher=Mohr Siebeck|pages=93–116|chapter=The Construction of Metrical Poetry in the Homilies of Narsai of Nisibis and Jacob of Serugh|editor-last=Butts|editor-first=Aaron|editor-last2=Heal|editor-first2=Kristian|editor-last3=Kitchen|editor-first3=Robert|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/44288685}} * {{Cite book |last=Forness |first=Philip Michael |title=The Good Christian Ruler in the First Millennium |date=2022 |editor-last=Forness |editor-first=Philip Michael |pages=141–167 |chapter=Faithful Rulers and Theological Deviance: Ephrem the Syrian and Jacob of Serugh on the Roman Emperor |editor-last2=Hasse-Ungeheuer |editor-first2=Alexandra |editor-last3=Leppin |editor-first3=Hartmut}} * {{Cite journal |last=Forness |first=Philip Michael |date=2022b |title=Manuscript Discoveries and Debates over Orthodoxy in Early Christian Studies: The Case of the Syriac Poet-Theologian Jacob of Serugh |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/harvard-theological-review/article/manuscript-discoveries-and-debates-over-orthodoxy-in-early-christian-studies-the-case-of-the-syriac-poettheologian-jacob-of-serugh/DD876270B0760B42D56F21885F350787 |journal=Harvard Theological Review |volume=115 |issue=3 |pages=416–440}} * {{Cite book |last=Hilkens |first=Andy |title=Caught in Translation: Studies on Versions of Late-Antique Christian Literature |date=2020 |publisher=Brill |editor-last=Toca |editor-first=Madalina |pages=64–84 |chapter=The Armenian Reception of the Homilies of Jacob of Serugh: New Findings |editor-last2=Batovici |editor-first2=Dan |chapter-url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004417182/BP000004.xml}} * {{Cite book |last=Kitchen |first=Robert |title=Patristic Exegesis in Context Exploring the Genres of Early Christian Biblical Interpretation |date=2023 |publisher=Catholic University of America Press |editor-last=Klein |editor-first=Elizabeth |pages=76–98 |chapter=Teaching Lions to Fast: Jacob of Serugh on Daniel 6 |editor-last2=De Cock |editor-first2=Miriam}} * {{Cite book |last=McConaughy |first=Daniel |title=Jacob of Sarug's Homily on the Entrance of Our Lord into Sheol |date=2024 |publisher=Gorgias Press}} * {{Cite book |last=Reynolds |first=Gabriel Said |title=The Qur'an and its Biblical Subtext |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge}} * {{Cite book |last=Reynolds |first=Gabriel Said |title=The Qur'an and the Bible: Text and Commentary |date=2018 |publisher=Yale University Press}} * {{Cite book |last=Romeny |first=Bas Ter Haar |title=Jacob of Edessa and the Syriac Culture of His Day |date=2008 |publisher=Brill |editor-last=Romeny |editor-first=Bas Ter Haar |pages=145–158 |chapter=Jacob of Edessa on Genesis: His Quotations of the Peshitta and his Revision of the Text}} * {{Cite book |last=Sinai |first=Nicolai |title=Apocalypticism and Eschatology in Late Antiquity: Encounters in the Abrahamic Religions, 6th–8th Centuries |date=2017 |publisher=Peeters |editor-last=Amirav |editor-first=Hagit |pages=219–266 |chapter=The Eschatological Kerygma of the Early Qur’an |editor-last2=Grypeou |editor-first2=Emmanouela |editor-last3=Strousma |editor-first3=Guy |chapter-url=https://almuslih.org/wp-content/uploads/Library/Sinai,%20N%20-%20The%20Eschatological%20Kerygma.pdf}} * {{Cite journal |last=Suciu |first=Alin |date=2015 |title=The Sahidic Version of Jacob of Serugh's Memrā on the Ascension of Christ |url=https://poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?id=3080616&url=article |journal=Le Muséon |volume=128 |issue=1–2 |pages=49–83}} * {{Cite book |last=Tesei |first=Tommaso |title=The Syriac Legend of Alexander's Gate |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press}} * {{Cite book |last=Tumara |first=Nebojsa |title=T&T Clark Handbook of the Doctrine of Creation |date=2024 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |editor-last=Goroncy |editor-first=Jason |pages=164–175 |chapter=Creation in Syriac Christianity}} * {{Cite book |last=Witzum |first=Joseph |title=The Syriac Milieu of the Quran |date=2011}}
{{EB1911|wstitle=Jacob of Sĕrūgh|volume=15||pages=114–115|first=Norman|last=McLean|author-link=Norman McLean}}
==Further reading== * Kiraz, George (ed). ''Jacob of Serugh and His Times: Studies in Sixth-Century Syriac Christianity''. Gorgias Press, 2010. * Forness, Philip Michael. ''Preaching Christology in the Roman Near East: A Study of Jacob of Serugh''. Oxford University Press, 2019.
== External links ==
* [https://dss-syriacpatriarchate.org/%d8%a2%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%83%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%b3%d8%a9/%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d9%8a%d8%b9%d9%82%d9%88%d8%a8-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b3%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%ac%d9%8a/ Arabic translations] of Jacob's sermons {{Catholic saints}} {{Catholic saints - Church Fathers}} {{Syriac Christianity}} {{Authority control}}
Category:450s births Category:521 deaths Category:6th-century Byzantine people Category:Syrian Christian saints Category:Syriac Orthodox Church bishops Category:Syriac-language writers Category:Writers of late antiquity