Évêque-poète au Ve et au Vie siècles: Jacques de Saroug, sa vie, son temps, ses oeuvres, ses croyances: J

While previous scholars, such as Assemani and Abbeloos, had made some forays into studying the life and works of Jacob of Sarug, the French Syriac scholar Abbé Martin in this work, which was originally published as a lengthy article in the Revue des Sciences Ecclésiastiques, looks anew at this significant poet and his work, which indeed ranks at least near that of Ephrem. As the subtitle indicates, Martin considers Jacob’s life, works, the time in which he lived, and his beliefs; in addition, his lasting influence among various Syriac-speaking communities is examined. Writing at a time before much of Jacob’s work was published or translated, he gives large extracts in French translation of Jacob’s homilies and letters from manuscripts. Of particular interest is Martin’s discussion of Jacob’s poetic style, together with a comparison of his literary activity with that of Ephrem and Barhebraeus. Finally, a large part of the work deals with questions of Jacob’s beliefs and orthodoxy (from a Roman point of view, given Martin’s position). This study will be a source of interest for all students of Syriac literature.Originally published as an article in the Revue des Sciences Ecclésiastiques