Elishaʿ Bar Quzbaye

Elishaʿ bar Quzbaye (  450 –  510/530) was a hermeneut and apologist of the Church of the East. Active in Persia, he served as the second or third director of the school of Nisibis. He wrote extensively in Syriac, but only a few fragments of his works survive.

Life

The meaning of Elishaʿ's surname is uncertain. It may come from the village of Quzbo in Marga in Beth ʿArbaye. According to Barḥadbshabba ʿArbaya, his surname was ʿArbaya bar Quzbane. In some later manuscripts, his name is corrupted to Mar Qorbane.

According to the ''Chronicle of Siirt'', Elishaʿ was a fellow student of Narsai at the school of Edessa before 450. Barḥadbshabba of Ḥulwān states that he was "trained in all ecclesiastical and profane books". He eventually taught biblical interpretation at the school of Nisibis, where, according to the ''Chronicle of Arbela'', he became ''mpashshqānā'' (chief interpreter).

According to the ''Chronicle of Siirt'' and the historian Mari ibn Sulayman, the Persian king Kavad I ordered all the religious communities in Persia to submit written descriptions of their beliefs. In response to this command, the Catholicos Aqaq commissioned Elishaʿ to write a general work on Christianity, which the catholicos then had translated into Persian and presented to Kavad. This must have taken place between 488 (Kavad's accession) and 496 (Aqaq's death).

According to some sources, Elishaʿ succeeded Narsai as director of the school around 502. Barḥadbshabba ʿArbaya, however, dates the beginning of his term as director to around 522, after Abraham of Beth Rabban's first term. In any case, his term was short, lasting four years (per Barḥadbshabba) or seven (503–510, per the ''Chronicle'').

Works

Elishaʿ was the author of several apologetic, didactic and expository works in Syriac, but only two short excerpts from his commentary on '' Job'' survive, quoted by Ishoʿdad of Merv. The ''Chronicle of Siirt'' records that he also wrote commentaries on '' Joshua'' and '' Judges'' and "completed ... according to a request" the commentary of Theodore of Mopsuestia on ''Samuel''. This last comment may mean either that he added an ending to an unfinished work by Theodore or merely that he finished its translation into Syriac. The ''Chronicle'' also credits him with a book of "meanings" of the ''Books of Kings'', probably an exegesis of difficult passages and not a full commentary. It claims that he wrote commentaries on all the Pauline epistles, but there is no other evidence of so extensive a work. New Testament commentaries are not mentioned by Barḥadbshabba of Ḥulwān, who claims that Elishaʿ wrote commentaries on all the books of the Old Testament according to the '' Peshitta'' (Syriac) versions. This claim, too, should be taken as possible hyperbole. Writing centuries later, ʿAbdishoʿ bar Brikha knew only of Elishaʿ's commentaries on the ''Second Epistle to the Corinthians'' and the epistles to the ''Galatians'', '' Ephesians'' and ''Philippians''.

Besides exegetical works, Elishaʿ wrote a variety of theological and historical works. ʿAbdishoʿ and the ''Chronicle'' both record that he wrote an '' ʿelltā'' (cause, explanation) of the ''mawtbā'' ( ar, al-mawtib), probably meaning the academic session of the school. ʿAbdishoʿ also attributes to him an ''ʿelltā'' of the martyrs, a "book of thanksgivings", a poem celebrating Shemʿon of Germakh and a commentary on the '' Chronicon'' of Eusebius of Caesarea. According to Barḥadbshabba, he wrote a defence of Christianity against the criticisms of the Magi, which he calls "an explanation of the questions of Magianism" (i.e., Zoroastrianism), in which "he resolved epudiatedthe questions the Magi raised ... against us"., ascribing it to Barḥadbshabba of Ḥulwān. According to , who ascribes it to Barḥadbshabba ʿArbaya, this may be the same work as that commissioned by Aqaq and submitted to the king. According to Barḥadbshabba, he also wrote a defence against "the heretics", by which are meant the Monophysites.

Elishaʿ's work for Kavad is described by the ''Chronicle of Siirt'' as covering the divine essence, the Trinity, the Hexameron, the creation of angels, the fall of Satan and the Parousia.

Notes

Bibliography

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5th-century births
6th-century deaths
Year of birth unknown
Year of death uncertain
Christians in the Sasanian Empire
Syriac writers
Bible commentators