Daniel McConaughy is an emeritus professor at California State University, Northridge. He received his PhD in Syriac at the University of Chicago under Arthur Vööbus.
Recognized as a saint by both Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Christians alike, Jacob of Sarug (d. 521) produced many narrative poems that have rarely been translated into English. Of his reported 760 metrical homilies, only about half survive. In this homily, On the Entrance of Our Lord into Sheol, Jacob tells with great power the invincibility of Sheol and how Christ gave His life to enter into Sheol like any other dead human so that He might conquer it.