TY - JOUR
T1 - Articulating marriage
T2 - Ephrem's legal terminology and its origins
AU - Monnickendam, Yifat
N1 - Funding Information:
*This paper is a revised version of a chapter from my dissertation, Y. Monnickendam, ‘Halakhic Issues in the Writings of the Syriac Church Fathers Ephrem and Aphrahat’ (Bar Ilan 2011). It was written under the supervision of Prof. Aharon Shemesh and Prof. James Kugel (Kaduri), whose comments nourished this paper. I would also like to thank Prof. Robin Darling-Young, Prof. Brachyahu Lifshitz, Dr Matthew Morgenstern, Prof. Steven Muir and Prof. Michael Sokoloff for their comments, Prof. Kristian Heal for searching the database of the BYU-Oxford Syriac Corpus project for me, and Mr Nicholas Kaufman for his insightful editing. Responsibility for any errors is of course mine. This study was conducted with the support of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and the Rotenstreich Fellowship, the Council for Higher Education.
PY - 2013/9
Y1 - 2013/9
N2 - Comparing Ephrem's legal terminology on issues of betrothal, marriage, adultery and divorce with that used in contemporary and earlier Jewish, Christian and Roman sources reveals the deep influence of rabbinic terminology on Ephrem's terminology. This influence is apparent in two aspects of Ephrem's language: his vocabulary and the semantic coverage of his terminology. In both these areas, he has more in common with rabbinic terminology and its usage, than with that of Roman law and Christian writers. Furthermore, in some cases it is possible to determine that Ephrem's legal terminology is closely related to Palestinian terminology in particular. This conclusion emphasizes the distance between Ephrem and his Greek and Latin Christian contemporaries, and reflects his deep ties to Jewish legal traditions, ties which are a result not only of similar language but also of similar legal views.
AB - Comparing Ephrem's legal terminology on issues of betrothal, marriage, adultery and divorce with that used in contemporary and earlier Jewish, Christian and Roman sources reveals the deep influence of rabbinic terminology on Ephrem's terminology. This influence is apparent in two aspects of Ephrem's language: his vocabulary and the semantic coverage of his terminology. In both these areas, he has more in common with rabbinic terminology and its usage, than with that of Roman law and Christian writers. Furthermore, in some cases it is possible to determine that Ephrem's legal terminology is closely related to Palestinian terminology in particular. This conclusion emphasizes the distance between Ephrem and his Greek and Latin Christian contemporaries, and reflects his deep ties to Jewish legal traditions, ties which are a result not only of similar language but also of similar legal views.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84888616490&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/jss/fgt003
DO - 10.1093/jss/fgt003
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AN - SCOPUS:84888616490
SN - 0022-4480
VL - 58
SP - 257
EP - 296
JO - Journal of Semitic Studies
JF - Journal of Semitic Studies
IS - 2
ER -