Paul, in

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 ...

Pawlos (fl. early 7th century), was the Syriac Orthodox bishop of

Tella ''Tella'' or ''talla'' ( Amharic ጠላ; om, farsoo, ti, siwa) is a traditional beer from Ethiopia. It is brewed from various grains, typically teff and sorghum. Depending on region, barley, wheat, or maize may be used; spices can also be ad ...

and an important translator 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 ...

works into Syriac. Paul was a native of Tella. By 615 he was a bishop. At some point before 613, he fled Syria for

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. Possibly he was one of several non- Chalcedonian bishops who fled in 599 amidst the persecution of Domitian of Melitene, nephew of the Emperor

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

. He is not named by Michael the Syrian among the exiles, but the bishop of Tella is said to have returned to diocese when the persecution ceased. If this was Paul, then he fled a second time to Egypt during the Persian invasion of Syria in 609–611. In Egypt, Paul lived in the

Enaton The Enaton (or Ennaton, Hennaton) was a monastic district in Egypt during the Middle Ages. It lasted into the 15th century, but it was at its height between the 5th and 7th centuries. It takes its name, which means "ninth" (Greek ἔνατον), fr ...

, a group of monasteries near

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

. There he joined with other Syriac scholars, including Tumo of Ḥarqel, to translate Greek texts into Syriac. Working between 613 and 617, Paul was primarily responsible for the '' Syro-Hexapla'', a Syriac translation of

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, based on the version found in

Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theo ...

's '' Hexapla''. He also translated a liturgy for baptism by Severus of Antioch. His translation work is characterised by close imitation of the Greek

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

, syntax and

word order In linguistics, word order (also known as linear order) is the order of the syntactic constituents of a language. Word order typology studies it from a cross-linguistic perspective, and examines how different languages employ different orders. C ...

. Paul of Tella is sometimes proposed as the translator of the pericope about

Jesus and the woman taken in adultery Jesus and the woman taken in adultery (or the ) is a passage ( pericope) found in John 7:53– 8:11 of the New Testament. It has been the subject of much scholarly discussion. In the passage, Jesus was teaching in the Second Temple after co ...

, which is found in neither the later standard Syriac Bible, the

Peshitta The Peshitta ( syc, ܦܫܺܝܛܬܳܐ ''or'' ') is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition, including the Maronite Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, ...

, nor in Tumo of Ḥarqel's translation of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

, the Ḥarqlean Version. It is attributed to a certain "Abbas Pawla" in the manuscripts, but this is probably

Paul of Edessa Paul of Edessa (died 30 October 526) was the Syriac Orthodox bishop of Edessa from 510 until his death with the exception of two periods of exile in 519 and 522–526. Paul was consecrated in 510, succeeding Peter. In the first year of his episco ...

. Besides his translations, Paul wrote at least one surviving '' sedro'' (a type of long prayer). There is some question over whether the bishop of Tella named Paul and the translator of the Septuagint of the same name are the same person. The translator is sometimes instead identified with

Paul of Nisibis Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

Notes

Sources

* * {{refend 6th-century births 7th-century deaths Syriac Orthodox Church bishops Syriac Christians Syriac writers Greek–Syriac translators