Barḥadbshabba ʿArbaya (late 6th – early 7th century) was a teacher, historian and biblical commentator of the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...

. A native of Beth ʿArbaye, Barḥadbshabba was the chief instructor (''bādūqā'') at the

School of Nisibis The School of Nisibis ( syr, ܐܣܟܘܠܐ ܕܢܨܝܒܝܢ, for a time absorbed into the School of Edessa) was an educational establishment in Nisibis (now Nusaybin, Turkey). It was an important spiritual centre of the early Church of the East, and ...

during the directorship of Ḥenana of Adiabene. He wrote the ''History of the Holy Fathers Persecuted for the Sake of Truth'', gives the Syriac as ''Teshʿītā da-bāhātā qadīshē de-trdefū meṭūl shrārā''. a history of the Church of the East from the beginning until the death of

Abraham of Beth Rabban Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...

(569), the third director of Nisibis. It was probably written not long after 569. Its focus is on the 4th and 5th centuries, making it an important source for the

Arian controversy The Arian controversy was a series of Christian disputes about the nature of Christ that began with a dispute between Arius and Athanasius of Alexandria, two Christian theologians from Alexandria, Egypt. The most important of these controversies c ...

and the dispute between

Cyril Cyril (also Cyrillus or Cyryl) is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Greek name Κύριλλος (''Kýrillos''), meaning 'lordly, masterful', which in turn derives from Greek κυριος (''kýrios'') 'lord'. There are various varian ...

and

Nestorius Nestorius (; in grc, Νεστόριος; 386 – 451) was the Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to August 431. A Christian theologian, several of his teachings in the fields of Christology and Mariology were seen as controve ...

. It is the oldest extant history from the Church of the East. Although his perspective is that of an East Syrian, Barḥadbshabba made use of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

sources. In the last chapters he outlines the history of the School of Nisibis and the

School of Edessa The School of Edessa ( syr, ܐܣܟܘܠܐ ܕܐܘܪܗܝ) was a Christian theological school of great importance to the Syriac-speaking world. It had been founded as long ago as the 2nd century by the kings of the Abgar dynasty. In 363, Nisibis fell t ...

. Besides his ''History'', Barḥadbshabba wrote commentaries on the ''

Gospel According to Mark The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...

'' and the ''

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

''. Only fragments of the former survive. According to ʿAbdishoʿ of Nisibis, writing in the 14th century, he also wrote "a book of treasures in three parts, and disputes (''drāše'') with all religions (''deḥlān'') and their refutation ... and a cause of the followers choolof Diodore." Barḥadbshabba ʿArbaya is possibly the same person as Barḥadbshabba of Ḥulwān.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * {{refend 6th-century Christian theologians 6th-century historians Christians in the Sasanian Empire Syriac writers Church of the East writers