I first came across Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373) ten years ago.  I remember encountering him again in a Bible study at my church shortly thereafter.  He was particularly interesting due to the connections he made between different texts in the Bible and the way he interpreted the Bible.  To illustrate, in one quote I came across in my church’s Bible study recently, Ephrem reflects upon Moses’s staff and how it ate the staffs turned into serpents by the Egyptian sorcerers.  He connects the staff of Moses, who is a type of Christ, to the Cross of Christ:

—————————-“If his rod ate serpents up,

————————— –His cross would eat the Serpent up that had

————————— –eaten Adam and Eve”

—————————- (Hymn I, On the Nativity)

Miniature of Ephrem the Syrian

Unlike today’s Western Christian preachers, Ephrem’s writings are always clearly focused on the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He always thinks about His incarnation, His life, His Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension regardless of the text of the Bible he explains.  This is how he can see the Cross in Moses’s rod because he constantly thinks about the Cross (which is wood like the staff) on which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified to save us from our sins.  The result is that the meaning of the Scriptures is unlocked.  This style of interpretation, which is called Christocentric, was practiced widely in the early church.

Ephrem wrote hundreds of hymns of which 473 still exist.  These hymns became extremely popular in his original Syrian language, and then in Greek, Latin, and multiple other languages in the early centuries following their composition.

Recently, I came across a book of his, Hymns on Paradise.  From my prior experience with his brief quotes, I knew it would be a good read, so I bought the book immediately. This book has 15 hymns by Ephrem on the topic of Paradise.

The translation that I read is the one by Dr. Sebastian Brock, who is a master translator and scholar of the Syrian Christian heritage.  His introduction (unlike many others for translated spiritual works) is deeply edifying and educational.  It not only helped me to clearly understand and appreciate Ephrem’s hymns, but it also provided spiritual benefit from these hymns.  You can click here to buy a copy.

When I read these amazing hymns, there were three major features that stood out.  They are best illustrated with selections from these hymns.  The following selections must be read slowly in order to be appreciated.

1. Beauty
One of the features of Ephrem the Syrian’s poetry is how it constantly reflects upon the imagery of the Bible and builds upon it.  For example, he takes the image of the Door, which our Lord Jesus Christ applies to Himself in John 10:7-10, and builds upon it,

   “Forge here on earth and take

the key to Paradise;

the Door that welcomes you

                                smiles radiantly upon you” (Hymn II.2).

Also, he takes the imagery of the second birth which our Lord Jesus Christ spoke about in John 3:3-8, and connects it to the end of our lives which is the goal of our salvation,

          “I was amazed at how even infants

                       weep as they leave the womb—

       weeping because they come out

          from darkness into light

                and from suffocation they issue forth

into this world!

Likewise death, too,

is for the world

a symbol of birth,

                             and yet people weep because they are born

                                     out of this world, the mother of suffering,

                             into the Garden of splendors” (Hymn V.14).

Other times he brings in familiar images to all people,

—————————-“More numerous and glorious

———————————than the stars

—————————-in the sky that we behold

———————————are the blossoms of that land,

—————————-and the fragrance which exhales from it

———————————through divine Grace

—————————-is like a physician

———————————sent to heal the ills

—————————-of a land that is under a curse;

———————————by its healing breath it cures

—————————-the sickness that entered in

———————————through the serpent” (Hymn XI.9).

2. Biblical Interpretation

Ephrem used his hymns to help people understand the Bible.  Since the days of the Apostles, one way Christians interpret the Bible is typologically.  The Syrians expanded this interpretation farther than the early Greek or Roman Christians, and it is clear in Ephrem’s hymns.  He also borrows from Jewish interpretation of the Scriptures.  For example,

—————————-“Noah made the animals live

———————————in the lowest part of the Ark;

—————————- in the middle part

——————————–he lodged the birds,

—————————-while Noah himself, like the Deity,

——————————–resided on the upper deck.

—————————-On Mount Sinai it was the people

——————————–who dwelt below,

—————————-the priests round about it,

——————————–and Aaron halfway up,

—————————-while Moses was on its heights,

——————————–and the Glorious One on the summit” (Hymn II.12).

Ephrem shows how the Garden of Eden, which he splits up into three sections which are the outside, then the middle part in which was the Tree of Knowledge, and then the innermost part, in which was the Tree of Life reappears in the Ark and in Mount Sinai.  He further expands this to interpret the Tree of Life as being the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ which gives life to all who eat from it.

3. Spiritual Growth

The beauty and Biblical interpretation that we find in Ephrem’s hymns combine wonderfully to lead to spiritual growth.  This is the most important element of Ephrem the Syrian’s hymns, that they most of all build toward a deeper spiritual life with God.

This can be seen in its most profound example when in order to help strengthen the faith of his hearers and readers that God will indeed hear their prayers, he points out the group of demons named Legion,

—————————–“Look at Legion

———————————when in anguish he begged,

——————————our Lord permitted and allowed him

———————————to enter into the herd;

——————————respite did he ask for, without deception,

———————————in his anguish,

——————————and our Lord in His kindness

———————————granted this request” (Hymn XII.8)

This, then, helps us believe that God will not ignore our prayers, we who are created in His Image.

A warning about how to read these hymns

Ephrem was very well educated as is clear from his control of poetic language in addition to his vast understanding of the Scriptures.  Some, however, may think that he actually ascended into heaven and saw Paradise.  He takes great care to warn his audience that he what he writes is not a concrete and literal description of Paradise.  It is rather a spiritual contemplation.

Here is an example that some may take to be a literal description of Paradise,

——————————“There the springs of delights

———————————open up and flow

——————————with wine, milk, honey

———————————and cream.

——————————Grass flourishes in December,

———————————after it January produces wheat;

——————————February, divested of its cold and now radiant,

———————————bears sheaves in Paradise” (Hymn X.6).

Yet Ephrem says,

——————————“Even though it may appear terrestrial

———————————because of the terms used,

——————————it is in its reality

———————————spiritual and pure” (Hymn XI.4).

And again,

——————————“If someone concentrates his attention solely

———————————on the metaphors used of God’s majesty,

——————————he abuses and misrepresents that majesty

———————————and thus errs

——————————by means of those metaphors

———————————with which God clothed Himself for [our] benefit”

——————————(Hymn XI.6).

I highly recommend this book for spiritual growth, Biblical understanding, and for experiencing the beauty of this poetry.   You can click here to buy a copy.

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