Dionysius bar Salibi (died 1171) was a
Syriac Orthodox
The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The church upholds the Mia ...
writer and bishop, who served as
metropolitan of
Amid, in
Upper Mesopotamia
Upper Mesopotamia constitutes the Upland and lowland, uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the regio ...
, from 1166 to 1171. He was one of the most prominent and prolific writers within the
Syriac Orthodox Church during the twelfth century.
He was a native of
Melitene, on the upper
Euphrates
The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...
. His
baptismal name was Jacob. He assumed name 'Dionysius' upon consecration to the
episcopate. In 1154, he was ordained
bishop of Marash by the patriarch
Athanasius VII bar Qatra; a year later the
diocese of Mabbug was added to his charge. In 1166, new patriarch
Michael the Great, the successor of Athanasius, transferred him to the metropolitan see of
Amid in Mesopotamia, and there he remained until his death in 1171.
Of his writings probably the most important are his exhaustive commentaries on the text of the Old and New Testaments, in which he skillfully interwove and summarized the interpretations of previous writers such as
Ephrem the Syrian
Ephrem the Syrian (; ), also known as Ephraem the Deacon, Ephrem of Edessa or Aprem of Nisibis, (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ — ''Mâr Aphrêm Sûryâyâ)'' was a prominent Christian theology, Christian theologian and Christian literat ...
,
Chrysostom,
Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria (; or ⲡⲓ̀ⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲕⲓⲣⲓⲗⲗⲟⲥ; 376–444) was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence and power within the Roman Empire ...
,
Moses Bar-Kepha and
John of Dara, whom he mentions together in the preface to his commentary on
St Matthew. Among his other main works are a treatise against heretics, containing ''inter alia'' a polemic against the
Jews
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 ...
and the
Muslims
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
; liturgical treatises, epistles and homilies.
His polemical works also include treatises on
Melkites, and
Armenians
Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
.
Translations
* ''Dionysius Bar Ṣalībī: A Response to the Arabs'', translated by Joseph P. Amar (CSCO, Vol. 615; Louvain: Peeters, 2005). .
* ''The Work of Dionysius Bar Salībi Against the Armenians'', edited and translated by Alphonse Mingana (Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2009).
* ''The Commentary of Dionysius Bar Salibi on the Eucharist'', translated and annotated by Baby Varghese (Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2011). .
* ''Dionysius Bar Salibi: Commentary on Myron and Baptism'', translated with introduction by Baby Varghese (Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2012).
* ''Dionysius Bar Ṣalībī’s Treatise Against the Jews: Edited and Translated with Notes and Commentary'', edited by Rifaat Ebied, Malki Malki, and Lionel R. Wickham (Leiden: Brill, 2020). .
See also
*
Alogi
*
Syriac literature
*
Dioceses of the Syriac Orthodox Church
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
* Dionysius bar Salibi
''In Apocalypsim, Actus et Epistulas Catholicas'' trans. I. Sedlacek, Romae : Karolus de Luigi (1909).
*
Hermathena, vol. 6 (1888) pp. 397–418, vol. 7 (1890) pp. 137–150; The Expositor 7th series, vol. 1 (1906), pp. 481–495.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salibi, Dionysius bar
Syrian Christian saints
Syriac writers
Christian anti-Gnosticism
1171 deaths
Year of birth unknown
Syriac Orthodox Church bishops
12th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops