Abd al-Masih, born Asher ben Levi (, , ),Asher ben Levi
at jewishencyclopaedia.com; retrieved 21 July 2019 is described as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

early Christianity Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the History of Christianity, historical era of the Christianity, Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Spread of Christianity, Christian ...

. The name Abd al-Masih () means "servant/slave of the Messiah" in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. Abd al-Masih was a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

shepherd boy in

Sasanian Mesopotamia Asoristan ( ''Asōristān'', ''Āsūristān'') was the name of the Sasanian province of Assyria and Babylonia from 226 to 637. Name The Parthian name ''Asōristān'' (; also spelled ''Asoristan'', ''Asuristan'', ''Asurestan'', ''Assuristan'') ...

who was killed by his father, Levi, for converting to Christianity. Having converted, he pierced his ear to wear an earring, probably an indication of his metaphorical

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. He died in AD 390. The story is set in

Singara Singara (, ''tà Síngara''; Syriac: ܫܝܓܪ) was a strongly fortified post at the northern extremity of Mesopotamia, which for a while, as it appears from coins minted there, was occupied by the Romans as an advanced colony against the Persi ...

and is a Syriac text with later versions in

and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

. There is disagreement about the location of his martyrdom. Some sources say Singar (in modern

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

near the Syrian border), and others say Taglibis in Arabia. He is regarded as the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of sterile women in Syria, and has his feast day observed on July 13, and July 22 or October 3.Holweck, F. G. ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924. After his martyrdom, his then-elderly father grew troubled and unwell, and after being taken to the place where his son died; he ended up converting to Christianity with his family.

References

Sources

External links

al-Masih,+martyr&pg=RA1-PA182 Eastern Christianityal-Masih%2C%20martyr&pg=PA2 A New Dictionary of Saints
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abd al-Masih People from Sinjar 4th-century Christian martyrs Converts to Christianity from Judaism 4th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown Iraqi Jews 390 deaths