Is monastic profession in the West-Syriac tradition a “second baptism”? A relationship clearly exists between the two rites of initiation in the West-Syriac tradition: the monastic profession and baptism. Aydin examines these two rites of initiation, comparing their external structures, common imagery and theological themes, and reveals that the monastic rite closely parallels, or even is modeled upon, that of baptism. Mor Polycarpus Edip Aydin explores the idea of monastic profession as a “second baptism,” or rather, the realization of what the gift of the Spirit at baptism really implies. An extensive Appendix contains Syriac texts with English translations pertaining to the Syriac rite of monastic profession, with relevant commentaries by Syriac Fathers from the 6th to the 10th centuries.

These articles on Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek lexicography have arisen from papers presented at the International Syriac Language Project's 14th International Conference in St. Petersburg in 2014.

This volume is part of a series that addresses issues of Classical Syriac lexicography, and the lexicography of other ancient languages. The international team of authors invited to participate represents a wide range of disciplines and opens new horizons in lexical thinking. Essays in this volume discuss taxonomy, the Syriac passive participle, translating Greek verbs with alpha privatives into Syriac, the translation of Syriac particles, and the history of Syriac lexica. This book represents the forefront of Syriac lexical studies, and has much to offer those studying Greek and other Semitic languages as well.

This is an introduction, written in Syriac, to the Syriac versions of the Bible, with chapters on the manuscript tradition, the main editions, commentaries, and various aspects of the ways the Bible was interpreted and used in the Syriac literary and liturgical tradition. Originally written for a Syriac Studies course at the St Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute (SEERI), in Kottayam, India, this new edition has been brought up to date and the bibliography expanded.