''Nuhrā d-Tešmeštā ʿEdtānāytā'' ("Commentary of the Ecclesiastical Services"), better known by its
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
title, ''Expositio officiorum ecclesiae'', is an anonymous
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
commentary on the
East Syriac liturgy. Its author is usually referred to as Pseudo-George of Arbela (or Pseudo-Gewargis). The work is dedicated to a certain Daniel.
The ''Expositio'' is preserved in many manuscripts.
Vat. sir. 148
has been digitized. It is the longest preserved Syriac liturgical commentary. Its date is uncertain. It was probably written in the ninth century, but perhaps as early as the seventh. It quotes the seventh-century author Abraham bar Lipeh
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 Jew ...
, whose work is based on that of Gabriel Qaṭraya, and must have been written after the liturgical reforms of the Catholicos Ishoʿyahb III (). In the 18th century, Giuseppe Simone Assemani
Giuseppe Simone Assemani (Classical Syriac : ܝܵܘܣܸܦ ܒܲܪ ܫܸܡܥܘܿܢ , ( ar, يوسف بن سمعان السمعاني ''Yusuf ibn Siman as-Simani'', en, Joseph Simon Assemani, la, Ioseph Simonius Assemanus; July 27, 1687–January 13 ...
assigned the ''Expositio'' to George of Arbela
George of Arbela (Syriac: ''Giwargis bar Tobi'') was an East Syriac churchman and author who served as the metropolitan of Mosul and Erbil (Arbela) from c. 960 until after 987.
George was relatively young man when he first put himself forward as ...
, but he gave no reasons. As George lived in the tenth century, this attribution has been discredited. The ''Expositio'' has also been wrongly credited to ʿAbdishoʿ bar Bahrīz.
The ''Expositio'' is structured as a series of question on liturgical practices, divided between seven sections:
#24 questions on the liturgical year.
#21 questions on '' ramšā''.
#9 questions on '' lelyā'' and '' ṣaprā''.
#30 questions on the eucharistic mysteries.
#9 questions on baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
.
#8 questions on the consecration of a church at the start of every year.
#7 questions on funeral and marriage rites.
The ''Expositio'' has been translated into Latin, but not any modern language.
Editions
* Connolly, R. H., ed. ''Anonymi auctoris expositio officiorum ecclesiae Georgio Arbelensi vulgo adscripta, II. Accedit Abrahae bar Lipheh interpretatio officiorum''. Vols
1
an
2
Louvain: Secretariat du Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 1913–1915. Syriac text with Latin translation.
References
Bibliography
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Texts in Syriac
Church of the East