Gabriel of Qatar, also known as Gabriel Qaṭraya bar Lipeh, was a
Qatari Syriac writer 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 ...
. He wrote a commentary on the
East Syrian liturgy.
Life
Gabriel's date are uncertain, but he probably flourished in the late 6th and early 7th centuries. He refers to
Shubḥalmaran, metropolitan bishop of
Karka d-Beth Slokh, who probably died in or about 620, as still alive. His commentary must precede the reforms of the liturgy associated with the patriarchate of
Ishoʿyahb III
Ishoʿyahb III of Adiabene was List of Patriarchs of the Church of the East, Patriarch of the Church of the East from 649 to 659.
Sources
Brief accounts of Ishoʿyahb's patriarchate are given in the ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' of the Jacobite w ...
(649–659).
Sarhad Yawsip Jammo
Sarhad Yawsip Hermiz Jammo (born 14 March 1941) is a Chaldean Catholic prelate of the Chaldean Catholic Church who presided over the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego in the United States. He had been the bishop ...
identified the author of the commentary with the Gabriel Qaṭraya who collated a manuscript of the
Peshitta (Syriac Bible) at
Nisibis in the 25th year of
Khusrau II
Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling fr ...
(either 614 or 615). There are references in this manuscript to the
School of Nisibis and it was probably copied there. A notice says that Gabriel worked in the presence of his teacher, Mar Zakka, which implies that he was a young student at the time.
Sebastian Brock rejected the identification. The manuscript is currently British Library, Add. 14471.
Work
Gabriel's commentary, sometimes known under the
Latin title ''Interpretatio officiorum'', survives in a single manuscript copied in the
Monastery of the Bear The Monastery of Mar Bassima was an East Syriac monastery on the slopes of Mount Judi between the 7th and 13th centuries. Its full name and dedication was Monastery of Mar Hnanya, Mar Hnanishoʿ, Mar Bassima, and Mar Habib, but it was commonly calle ...
, now catalogued as
British Library, Or. 3336. Only the section on the
Holy Qurbana
The Holy Qurbana ( syr, ܩܘܼܪܒܵܢܵܐ ܩܲܕܝܫܵܐ, ''Qurbānā Qaddišā'' in Eastern Syriac or ''Qurbānā Qandišā'' in the Indian variant of Eastern Syriac, the "Holy Offering" or "Holy Sacrifice" in English), refers to the Eucharis ...
has been published and translated into English. An epitome of the ''Commentary'' by
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 ...
has been published. The date on the manuscript is partially damaged. It was copied on the last Friday of July in a year of the 13th century, either 1238, 1268 or 1288.
The commentary is divided into five verse homilies (''memre'') in question-and-answer format. The first homily concerns ''
ramšā'' (vespers) on weekdays and contains fifteen questions; the second concerns ''ṣaprā'' (
prime) on weekdays in seventeen questions; the third ''ramšā'' and ''lelyā'' (
matins) on Sundays in five questions; the fourth ''ṣaprā'' on Sundays in nine questions; and the fifth the Holy Qurbana, which is the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
, in eight questions.
Notes
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
6th-century births
7th-century deaths
Church of the East writers
Christians in the Sasanian Empire