Die Haggadischen Elemente in den Homilien des Aphraates, des persischen Weisen

This volume contains the inaugural dissertation of the Hungarian scholar Salomon Funk. In it, he addresses the following questions: What is Aphrahat’s dependence on Jewish sources? Which traditions did he receive from the Jews? Is Aphrahat unique in Syriac literature for his relationship to the Jews? After an introduction on Aphrahat’s life, works, and previous scholarship on him, Funk’s method is to go through biblical passages that Aphrahat comments on and show parallels in rabbinic literature. These passages are mostly from the Pentateuch but some subsequent parts of the Old Testament are also briefly touched on. Funk then shows how some of Aphrahat’s expressions and patterns of speech are related to rabbinic literature, and, finally, he indicates how Aphrahat’s psychology and theology relate to Jewish sources. The work concludes with three extraneous notes on the Jews in Persia, the Talmudic expression “Be Abidan,” and Aphrahat’s biblical citations and the Peshitta.