Jacob of Serugh
Syriac poet and bishop of Batnan
- Born
- c. 451, near the Euphrates
- Died
- 521
- Office
- Bishop of Batnan (Batnae) in Serugh, from 519
- Works
- Some 760 verse homilies (memre), about 400 surviving
- Notable
- Early Syriac homily on the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus
Syriac poet-bishop of the fifth and sixth centuries whose verse homilies include one of the earliest tellings of the Seven Sleepers.
What is Jacob of Serugh known for?
Jacob of Serugh was a Syriac Christian poet born around 451 in the region of the upper Euphrates. He spent most of his life as a churchman and writer, and in 519, already elderly, was made bishop of Batnan in the district of Serugh. He died in 521.
He is famous for his metrical homilies, or memre, long sermons in verse on biblical and religious themes. The 13th-century writer Bar Hebraeus credited him with 760 of them; about 400 survive.
One of his homilies tells the story of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, young Christians who hide in a cave during the persecution of the emperor Decius, fall asleep, and wake in the reign of Theodosius II as proof of the resurrection. It is among the earliest known versions of the legend, which spread west through Gregory of Tours and appears in the Quran as the People of the Cave.
He wrote one of the earliest versions of the Seven Sleepers legend.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holePeople of the Cave (Seven Sleepers)
Sources
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