Graeco-Latina et Orientalia

Studia in honorem Angeli Urbani heptagenarii

Edited by
Samir Khalil Samir & Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala

CNERU – CEDRAC
__________________________________
Oriens Academic
 CNERU – CEDRAC
Series Syro-Arabica
2

Chief Editors
Samir Khalil Samir • Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala

Advisory Board
Sebastian Brock • Rifaat Ebied • Sidney H. Griffith
Herman Teule • Dorothea Weltecke
 Graeco-Latina et Orientalia
Studia in honorem Angeli Urbani heptagenarii

Edited by

Samir Khalil Samir & Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala

Graeco-Latina et Orientalia : Studia in honorem Angeli Urbani heptagenarii. Edited by
Samir Khalil Samir & Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala. – Cordoba : CNERU (Cordoba Near
Eastern Research Unit) – Beirut : CEDRAC (Centre de Documentation et de Recherches
Arabes Chrétiennes) – Oriens Academic, 2013
(Series Syro-Arabica ; vol. 2)
ISBN : 978-84-695-8428-6

Edit: Oriens Academic – CNERU – CEDRAC

Cordoba Near Eastern Research Unit CEDRAC

Facultad de Filosofía y Letras Université Saint-Joseph
Universidad de Córdoba B.P. 16-6778 – Achrafieh
Plaza Cardenal Salazar, 3 Beyrouth – Liban
14071 – Córdoba, Spain

http://www.uco.es/cneru
infoccne@uco.es

Print: Imprentatecé, S.C.A.

Ingeniero Torres Quevedo, s/n
Córdoba (Spain)

Cover design by Manuel Marcos Aldón & Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala

ISBN: 978-84-695-8428-6
DL: CO-1337-2013

© Cordoba Near Eastern Research Unit

© CEDRAC
© The authors

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in
any retrieval system, nor transmitted in any form without written permission
from the Publisher

Printed in Spain
 CONTENTS

Preface ............................................................................................ xi
Bibliography Professor Ángel Urbán ...................................................... xiii

ARGÁRATE, Pablo
A Survey of Different Liturgical Sources on the notion of “People of
God” ....................................................................................................... 1
BASSAL, Ibrahim
An early copy of a Christian Arabic Pentateuch: Ms Sinai Arabic 2
and its affinity to the Peshīṭta .................................................................... 13
BONHOME, Lourdes
An Arabic fragmentary epistle to the Galatians preserved in El
Escorial Cod. Ar. 1625 .............................................................................. 35
BROCK, Sebastian P.
The position of Job in Syriac biblical manuscripts: The survival of an
ancient tradition ..................................................................................... 49
CHRISTIDES, Vassilios
What went wrong in the long distance Roman naval power in the
Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean in the late third century AD ........................ 63
CORRIENTE, Federico
The names of the gems in the ephod as reflected in the Leiden Glossary
and their reflexes in the Islamic mystical tradition ....................................... 87
DI LUCCIO, Pino
Pane, acqua e vestiti. Nella Bibbia ebraica, nella letteratura rabbinica
e nel vangelo di Giovanni ....................................................................... 101
EBIED, Rifaat
The Syriac Version of the Treatise on the Origin and History of the
Thirty Pieces of Silver which Judas received from the Jews ......................... 123
FERNÁNDEZ ARDANAZ, Santiago
La teología política bajo los Severos: hacia una nueva fundamentación
de la oicoumene en el Imperio romano .................................................... 133
GONZÁLEZ CASADO, Pilar
Cristo, segundo Adán: la expresión en árabe de un tema de la
literatura cristiana antigua ...................................................................... 147
GRYPEOU, Emmanouela
Ephraem Graecus, ʻSermo In Adventum Domini᾽: A Contribution to
the Study of the Transmission of Apocalyptic Motifs in Greek, Latin
and Syriac Traditions in Late Antiquity .................................................... 165
KIRAZ, George A.
Textual Sources and Editorial Policies of the Antioch Bible ........................... 183
MARCOS ALDÓN, Manuel
Notes sur les types d’écritures dans les marges des texts, à propos du
Ms. 259-263 BNM ................................................................................ 191
MARTÍNEZ DELGADO, José
Cracks, the Almond, the Grasshopper and Desire: the ailments of old
age (Ecclesiastes 12:5) in the exegesis of Andalusi Hebrew
philologists (10th -11th c.) ....................................................................... 205
MONFERRER-SALA, Juan Pedro
Kērýssō and its Arabic renditions in a bilingual Gospel of Luke (BnF
‘Supl. grec 911’, 1043 CE) .................................................................... 221
ÖNDER, Josef
Metropolit Julius Yeshu Çiçek (1942-2005): „Meine Kirche, Dich
liebe ich!‟ Autobiographisches Gedicht: Text und Auslegung ...................... 237
PAZZINI, Massimo
Gli Olivi del Getsemani ultimi «testimoni viventi» della Passione ................ 253
PIERRI, Rosario
Codex B e Nestle-Aland a confronto. Il Vangelo di Matteo ......................... 261

viii
RIUS-CAMPS, Josep
Lucas-Beza silencia o soslaya cualquier referencia a la Parusía y al
Juicio Final .......................................................................................... 277
SAMIR, Samir Khalil
Une adaptation arabe musulmane en prose rimée des evangiles (IXe s.) ......... 295
SIDARUS, Adel
Place et rôle de l᾽Antiquité gréco-romaine dans la littérature copto-
arabe .................................................................................................. 327
SWANSON, Mark. N.
The ‘Urban Ministry’ of Anbā Ruways .................................................... 359
TEULE, Herman G.B.
Ignatius Anṭūn Samḥīrī, a 19th Century Syrian-Catholic Patriarch,
and his Journey to the Low Countries ...................................................... 371
TORALLAS TOVAR, Sofía
El orfebre del insulto: Filón y la lengua griega de Alejandría ....................... 383
VOLLANDT, Ronny
Che portono al ritorno quì una Bibbia Arabica integra: A history of
the Biblia Sacra Arabica (1671-73) .......................................................... 401
WILDE, Clare
Q 33:35: Echoes of the Bnāt Qyāmā’s jihād fī sabīl allāh? ............................. 419
YOUSSEF, Youhanna Nessim
A Doxology of Saint Mark al-Anṭūnī ....................................................... 433

ix
Professor Ángel Urbán Fernández

x
Ephraem Graecus, ‘Sermo In Adventum Domini’
A Contribution to the Study of the Transmission of
Apocalyptic Motifs in Greek, Latin and Syriac
Traditions in Late Antiquity

Emmanouela Grypeou
University of Oxford

Introduction

This paper focuses on those pseudepigraphical traditions that circulated under

the name of the renowned theologian of the 4th cent. Ephraem the Syrian with
special attention to the portrayal of the eschatological figure of the antichrist. I
shall focus here on the Greek tradition, which has been significantly neglected by
modern scholarship. The analysis will further investigate the Greek tradition in
the context of the Latin and Syriac pseudo-Ephremian apocalyptic traditions
respectively.
Since all texts in question are pseudepigraphical, we need to assume a dating
which post-dates Ephraem the Syrian, at least in consideration of the latest
redaction of these texts.
Among the genuine writings of Ephraem there exist a number of sermons that
deal with eschatological fears and questions and which have been significantly
influential on later authors and traditions. However, none of the genuine
sermons by Ephraem develop a comprehensive apocalyptic scenario or include
eschatological figures such as the Antichrist.
Still, there is a body of literature in Greek, Latin and Syriac, which is
transmitted under the name of Ephraem the Syrian that reflects the classical
apocalyptic genre and offers a comprehensive narrative on the end of the world.
This body of literature demonstrates a relation with a number of other
classical apocalyptic works and proves to be particularly important for the
development of the motif of well-known figure of the Antichrist and his horrific
reign, as it demonstrates a number of original and momentous features, which
have proved to be considerably influential on the further elaboration and
development of this tradition in Syria and Byzantium.1

1
See for example, the common motifs as attested in Syriac texts, such as the so-called
Edessene Apocalypse (ed. Francisco Javier Martínez, The Eastern Christian Apocalyptic in the
 Emmanouela Grypeou

The Ephraem Graecus Literary Tradition

Ephraem the Syrian has been a significantly prolific writer. Among the works
that circulated under his name in Late Antiquity, there exists also an impressive
body of literature, which is preserved and transmitted in Greek. Ephraem’s
knowledge of Greek –if any- must have been limited.2 Accordingly, this literature
is largely pseudepigraphical and it bears evidence to Ephraem’s importance and
popularity also outside his native language and culture. Characteristically, in the
Clavis Patrum Graecorum there are more than 120 titles in Greek registered under
the name of Ephraem.3
A significant part of the Greek pseudo-Ephraemian literature is dedicated to
matters of an eschatological-apocalyptic outlook. More specifically, a number of
writings deal with the Last Judgment and with questions of reward for the
righteous and punishment for the sinners in the afterlife. These are texts of a
highly paraenetic and moralistic character.
The Greek writings under the name of Ephraem in Greek were edited by
Thwaites in 1709 and later in the same century by Assemani in two volumes,
along with a Latin translation.4 Assemani’s edition depends considerably on
Thwaites edition. In Assemani’s edition there are about ten texts entitled: On the
Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ or On Judgement and Resurrection and On
Penitence. Parts of these texts are doublets, however.

Early Muslim Period: Pseudo-Methodius and Pseudo-Athanasius, Ph.D. dissertation, Washington

D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1985, and the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius
(ed. Gerrit J. Reinink, Die Apocalypse des Pseudo-Methodius (CSCO 452: script. syr. 220-221),
Louvain: Peeters, 1993) and the Greek Byzantine Daniel-Diegese (ed. Klaus Berger, Die
griechische Daniel-Diegese (Studia Postbiblica, 27), Leiden: Brill, 1976) or the Apocalypse of
Andreas Salos (ed. Lennard Ryden, ‘The Andreas Salos Apocalypse: Greek Text, Translation
and Commentary’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 28 [1974], pp. 197-261).
2
See David G.K. Taylor, ‘St. Ephraim’s influence on the Greeks’, Hugoye 1:2 (1998), pp. 185-
196.
3
See CPG, Ephraem Graecus 3905-4175; This literary corpus comprises works of ascetical,
exegetical, paraenetic character, etc. Significantly, the figure of Ephraem as an ascetic
appears to have had a significant impact on the Greek speaking monastic milieu.
Accordingly, there is a great emphasis on literature of an ascetic character under his
name. Demokratie Hammerdinger-Iliadou, who has studied the Ephraem Graecus corpus
extensively, has demonstrated that some of the works that are transmitted under the
name of Ephraem can be attributed to other Church Fathers, while some others were
originally composed in Syriac, a few of them even by Ephraem himself, and were later
translated into Greek; See especially her article on ‘Ephraem Graecus’, in Dictionnaire de la
Spiritualité, vol. V., cols 800-821.
4
See Edward Thwaites, S. Ephraim Syrus Graecae, Oxford: Sheldonian, 1709; Giuseppe Simone
Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri opera omnia quae extant Graece, Syriacae, Latine in
sex tomos distributa, Rome, 1732-46.

166
 Ephraem Graecus, ‘Sermo In Adventum Domini’

The textual evidence suggests that Ephraem was highly valued as a major
moral authority on issues regarding the right life-conduct and especially in the
context of questions regarding the salvation of the faithful before the Second
Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment. As will be shown in the discussion
below, Ephraem was further considered to be an apocalyptic authority as early as
by the end of the fourth century A.D. The present analysis will specifically focus
on those texts of an apocalyptic character by Ephraem Graecus, which deal with
the End of the World and explicitly with the figure and the times of the
Antichrist.
The main text, “apocalyptic” text, which I am going to present here, is
entitled, Sermon on the Second Coming of Christ, on the Consummation of the World and
on the Coming of the Antichrist (Sermo in Adventum Domini et de Consummatione Seculi
et in Adventum Antichristi).5 The text exists in Twaites and in Assemani’s editions.
In the volumes published by Assemani, the text appears in two versions, a longer
and a shorter one, in the second and the third volume of his edition respectively. 6
The shorter text in the third volume overlaps with the second half of the longer
version. It demonstrates, however, slight discrepancies in the formulation, in the
grammar and in the spelling as well as some additions and/or omissions in the
narration. There exist also Georgian, Arabic and Old Bulgarian versions of this
text as well as fragments in Christian Palestinian Aramaic and in Coptic.7 The
numerous versions and translations of the text attest to its popularity and

5
Λόγος εἰς τὴν Παρουσίαν τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ περὶ τῆς Συντέλειας τοῦ Κόσμου καὶ εἰς παρουσίαν τοῦ
Ἀντιχρίστου.
6
See Sermo in Adventum Domini et de consummatine saeculi et in adventum Antichristi (Ass. Gr. II.
p. 222-230) CPG 3946; [Thwaites title 156, pp 136-140)] In Adventum Domini (Ass. Gr. III. pp
134-143); cf. Sermo in secundum adventum domini (Ass Gr I pp 167-171) CPG 3920; Sermo in
secundum adventum Domini II (Ass Gr II p. 192-209) CPG 3944 and CPL 1144. On Assemani’s
methodological dilettantism in his reprinting of the various versions of the text, see
Wilhelm Bousset’s criticism, Der Antichrist in der Überlieferung des Judentums, des neuen
Testaments und der alten Kirche, Göttingen, 1895, p. 21 (henceforth, W. Bousset, Der
Antichrist); see also especially Bousset’s tables, p. 24. Thwaites’s edition is based on the 12th
century Ms Bodl, Roe gr. 28, 61b-68a.
7
For the Georgian translation, see J. Imnaišvili, K‛art‛uli enis istoriuli k‛restimat‛ia, vol. 2, Tiflis,
1971, pp. 21-25; 45-46, for the Arabic version, see Georg Graf, Geschichte der christlichen
arabischen Literatur, (coll. “Studi e Testi”, 143) Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica
Vaticana, 1944-53, vol I, p. 428. The edition of the Old Bulgarian translation is accompanied
by a translation into German, see Georg Bojkovsky- Rudolf Aitzenmüller, Paraenesis. Die
altbulgarische Übersetzung von Werken Ephraims des Syrers, vol. IV, Freiburg i. Br.: Weiher,
1988, pp. 364-403. The fragments in Christian Palestinian Aramaic were edited and
translated by Hans Duensing, ‚Nachlese christlich-palästinisch-aramäischer Fragmente‘, in
Nachrichten der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen 1, phil.-hist. Klasse nr. 5, Göttingen,
1955, pp. 126-149. On the fragments in Coptic see Delio Vania Proverbio, ‘Auctarium au
dossier copte de l’Ephraem grec’, Orientalia 66 (1997), pp. 78-85, esp. 79-80.

167
 Emmanouela Grypeou

significance for apocalyptic tradition in Eastern Christianity.8 W. Bousset, who

regarded this text as a genuine writing by Ephraem, stressed its importance for
the understanding of the development of central motifs of Christian apocalyptic
thought and literature.9
Furthermore, there are two pseudo-Ephremian texts preserved (and most
probably also originally composed) in Latin10 and in Syriac11 respectively, which
also deal –at least in part- with the times of the Antichrist. Both the Latin and the
Syriac texts have been the object of several studies, editions and translations.
This is not the case, however, with the Greek text. To my knowledge, there exists
neither a critical edition and nor a modern comprehensive study of the text. The
text has been mainly studied by Wilhelm Bousset in his classical monograph on
the Antichrist in 1895, but has been nearly ‘forgotten’ ever since.12

The Greek Sermo in Adventum Domini

In the following, I am going to discuss the Sermo in Adventum Domini in the

context of the parallel ‘Antichrist’ literature of Late Antiquity and also in the
context of the Pseudo-Ephraem apocalypses in Latin and Syriac. The sermon is
dedicated almost entirely to the description of the times of the Antichrist.
Perhaps the most important feature of the Sermo in Adventu Domini is that it
exclusively focuses on the end of times.
According to the longer version of the text, his alleged author, Ephraem, who
calls himself a humble and sinful servant of God, confesses that God has awarded
him knowledge of the time of the future tribulations that will be caused by the

8
Interestingly enough, this text is supposed to have been so widespread as to have
influenced Romanos’ Melodos poem, On the Last Judgment, see J. Grosdidier de Matons,
Hymnes, Romane le Mélode, vol. V. (Sources chretiennes, 128), Paris, 1981: Editions du Cerf,
pp. 209-267; cf. Rudolf Thomas Maria Wehofer, Untersuchungen zum Lied des Romanos auf die
Wiederkunft des Herrn, SB Wien, phil.-hist. Klasse 154/5, Wien, 1907.
9
W. Bousset, Der Antichrist, p. 21, n.1 and passim.
10
See Daniel Verhelst, ‘Scarpsum de Dictis Sancti Ephraem Prope Fine Mundi’, in Robrecht
Lievens, Erik van Mingroot, Werner Verbeke (eds), Pascua Medievalia (Mediaevalia
Lovaniensia; ser. 1, studia 10), Leuven: Universitaire pers Leuven, 1983; Carl Paul Caspari,
‘Eine Ephraem Syrus and Isidor von Sevilla beigelegte Predigt über die letzten Zeiten, den
Antichrist und das Ende der Welt. Aus zwei Handschriften saec. VIII...’, in C. P. Caspari,
Briefe, Abhandlungen und Predigten und aus den zwei letzten Jahrhunderte des kirchlichen
Altertums and Anfang des Mittelalters, Christiania, 1890, esp. pp. 208-220 and 429-472.
11
See Edmund Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Sermones III (CSCO 20/321, script. syri
138/139), Louvain: Secrétariat du CorpusSCO, 1972; Harald Suermann, Die
geschichtstheologische Reaktion auf die einfallenden Muslime in der edessenischen Apokalyptik des
7. Jahrhunderts, Frankfurt a.M. et al.: Peter Lang, 1985.
12
W. Bousset, Der Antichrist.

168
 Ephraem Graecus, ‘Sermo In Adventum Domini’

‘Dragon’. It is important to stress in this context that the Antichrist is often called
a ‘dragon’ or a ‘demon’.
The coming of the Dragon is explained as the result of the unfaithfulness and
impiousness of the people who would prefer to love the evil instead of God’s love.
The Greek sermon presents a compact narrative that recounts certain central
motifs on the nature of the Antichrist and his rule. Significantly, the figure is
hardly ever called “Antichrist” in the text, even if it retains certain features of
the figure as a pseudo-messianic antitype of Christ.
After an introductory part, which presents a summarised description of the
time of the Antichrist and lists his most important features, such as his deceitful
diabolic being, his illusionary signs and horrible kingship, the trials and finally
the flight and ultimate salvation of the righteous, there follows the more detailed
recounting of the time of the Antichrist. According to our text, this will be a time
of tears and worries, and prayers for everybody. The false signs will multiply
because the beast (θηρίον) will be determined to destroy everybody, as he is an
adversary of God (θεομάχος). The Dragon will show himself in great power, as a
God, through horrific signs and he will be accompanied in the air by numerous
demons, like angels.13
He is called the snake (ὄφις), the adversary, the enemy (ἐχθρός) and the
apostate. He will be born by an unclean young woman in contrast to the Lords’
birth by Virgin Mary. The tyrant will try everything, so that all people will carry
the seal of the beast when he will come to lead the world astray. Especially, when
food will become sparse, many will be forced to receive the seal on the right hand
and on the forehead, then only those with the seal will be able to purchase food. 14
He will appear to be initially, humble, gentle, pious, hating injustice and idolatry.
He will honour exceedingly the nation of the Jews and the Jews will look forward
to his coming. However, he will only pretend to be good natured, in order to
become popular until he gains power so that the people will announce him a king
in great happiness. Then, he will destroy the world and he will pollute the souls.
As he is not pious, but furious, horrible, hateful, and he will try to throw the
entire generation of men into the mire of impiety, while he will multiply his false
signs. He will move mountains and islands on the sea in front of the eyes of the
people. These signs will be only illusions but still, many will believe and call him
God.15
After that, a time of ultimate disaster, characterised by horrible drought, will
arrive. People will die in all places and nobody will be there to bury the dead. 16
There will be an unbearable stench and an unbearable grief everywhere. The

13
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.222-224.
14
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.224E-225F; III.136; cf. Rev 13:16-18.
15
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.226-227; III. 138-139.
16
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.227.

169
 Emmanouela Grypeou

entire nature will be in confusion and turmoil. When the world will reach this
point of outmost despair, God will send Elijah the Thesbite and Enoch to warn the
people about his deceitful nature and to announce the coming of the Lord and His
judgement.17 Following the revelation of the heinous signs of the Antichrist, the
flight of the saints and righteous takes place, who will hide in mountains and
caves in great fear.18 The whole earth will mourn. Prayer and liturgy will stop.
The text concludes with the glorious coming of the Son of Man, the resurrection
of the dead and the Last Judgment for all nations, which will take place after the
completion of three and a half weeks and the culmination of evil.19 The righteous
that have not received the seal of the dragon will rejoice together with angels
and archangels whereas all those who have received the seal of the dragon will
not partake in Christ’s kingdom but will be thrown in the Gehenna along with the
Dragon.
The shorter version of the text is, as mentioned above, partly identical with
the longer version but it omits the introductory summary of the time of the
Antichrist. It appears to be a revised version prepared by a copyist who added his
own remarks, small glossae and in certain ways ‘improved’ the original text,
using a more ‘elaborate’ narrative style. The Antichrist is associated with
idolatrous incidents of the Old Testament, such as the stories of Balaam and Balak
and the king of Midian (Num 22-25)20. The texts stresses the fact that he is a
figure encouraging idolatry, emphasising at the same time that he is an ally of
the Jews and that the Jews will honour him and will rejoice during his kingdom.
He will favour Jerusalem and will encourage the re-building of the Temple.
Summarising, it can be observed that the Greek Ephraem sermon includes
certain main apocalyptic motifs in its description of the figure of the Antichrist
and his times, such s the flight and the persecution of the faithful, the ultimate
natural and social disasters and the culmination of despair, the deception of the
people through false signs and the final Judgement, which will restore the divine
order by rewarding the faithful, who persevered and punishing the evil and all
his followers.

17
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.229; on the figures of Enoch and Elijah as
an apocalyptic topos in relation with the antichrist, see Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala, ‘ ‘The
Antichrist is coming...’ The making of an apocalyptic topos in Arabic (Ps.-Athanasius, Vat.
Ar. 158/Par. ar. 153/32)’, in Dmitrij Bumazhnov et al., Bibel, Byzanz und christlicher Orient.
Festschrift für Stephen Gerö zum 65. Geburtstag (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 187), Leuven:
Peeters, 2011, pp. 653-678, and J. P. Monferrer-Sala, “Literatura apocalíptica cristiana en
árabe. Con un avance de edición del Apocalipsis árabecopto del Pseudo Atanasio”,
Miscelánea de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos 48 (1999), pp. 231-254.
18
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.229.
19
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.229-230.
20
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, III.135.

170
 Ephraem Graecus, ‘Sermo In Adventum Domini’

As is well known, the figure of the Antichrist has its roots in the Jewish
apocalyptic literature, where he appears as Satan or Dragon. He is portrayed as
an ungodly false prophet or an impious political tyrant.21 The difference of the
emphasis reveals not only a variety of popular literary traditions but possibly
also the varied historical background of these traditions. Thus, it may be assumes
that the shift in the focus of these texts reflected diverse historical, political or
internal religious crises that needed to be addressed.
We find traditions on the Antichrist again in the New Testament, notably in
John’s Revelation, and in several Early Christian writings.22 The figure of the
Antichrist becomes soon a popular eschatological motif in early Christian
literature, where it develops to a standard albeit complex and multifaceted
tradition.23
Ps. Ephraem’s sermon shares certain common traditions with the relevant
Early Christian literature but it does not depend directly on any of these early
texts. The text integrates general biblical references, such as the apocalyptic
parts in the Gospels of Mark (13) and Matthew (24) and makes broad use of
elements from the Revelation of John and the Book of Daniel. In spite of explicit
references to the apocalypse of Daniel, there is no mention of a political history
regarding a succession of kingdoms that would usher the end of the world.
Similarly, our text does not demonstrate any concern about warfare or the end of
the empire but the emphasis is placed more on a moral and religious decadence.
The highly paraenetic character of the sermon underlines this outlook. The end

21
For an overview, see J. P. Monferrer-Sala, ‘Literatura apocalíptica cristiana en árabe’,
Miscelánea de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos 48 (1999), pp. 231-254; J. P. Monferrer-Sala, ‘ ‘The
Antichrist is coming...’ ’, in D. Bumazhnov et al., Bibel, Byzanz und christlicher Orient, pp. 653-
678; Bernhard Mc Ginn, Antichrist: two thousand years of the human fascination with evil, San
Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1996; cf. Neil Forsyth, The Old Enemy: Satan and the Old
Combat Myth, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989.
22
In the New Testament and in the Early Christian literature the figure is identified with the
false prophet or the apostate, who seduces the faithful to deny the true faith (Mt 24:24; Mk
13:22; 1Jn 2:18b; 2:22; 4:3; 2Jn 7; Did 16:3ff.; Asc Jes 4:5). The figure of the Antichrist as a
tyrannical ruler in the end of the times, associated with the Roman Empire and its
emperors is also attested in 2 Thess 2:3-12 and of course in John’s Revelation 13.
23
Some of the earliest Christian writings that deal extensively with the figure are Adversus
Haereses V.25-35 by Irenaeus of Lyon (ed. A. Rousseau-L. Doutrelau, Contre les hérésies
[Sources Chrétiennes, 131], Paris: Éditions du Cerf 1965), On Christ and the Antichrist by
Hippoliytus of Rome (ed. A. Achelis-N. Bonwetsch, [Griechische Christliche Schriftsteller,
1], Leipzig: Hinrichs 1897), and the Coptic Apocalypse of Elijah (ed. Albert Pietersma, and S. T.
Comstock with H. W. Attridge , The apocalypse of Elijah : based on P. Chester Beatty 2018
[Pseudepigrapha, 9], Chico CA: Scholars Press, 1981); cf. Gregory Jenks, Origins and
Development of the Antichrist Myth, Berlin; New York: De Gruyter, 1989 (henceforth: G. Jenks,
Origins and Development).

171
 Emmanouela Grypeou

of the world will come as a necessity and it will be caused by the deception of the
people by the Dragon and their defection from God’s faith.
As W. Bousset noted, the Antichrist figure in Ephraem Graecus is a thoroughly
demonic figure.24 He is the God-hating tyrant of the last days. Ps. Ephrem reflects
the development of the figure as the personification of the dragon myth.25 He
claims divine kingship in a supernatural magical context. He is clearly associated,
even almost identified with the devil. His kingship is not related to an explicit
political or historical context. The figure in our text is God’s adversary but in
spite of the title of our text, he is hardly ever called ‘the Antichrist’. Neither is he
described as an almost exact antitype of Christ.26 Further, he is not attributed a
Jewish origin and particularly an origin from the tribe of Dan as in other relevant
classical texts, but he is rather identified with a pagan ruler.27
The description of the tribulations during his rule is reminiscent of motifs
from John’s Revelation and from Early Christian eschatological literature. Still,
although there is an emphasis throughout the text on his demonic seal,
corresponding to the seal of the beast in the Revelation of John, he is not
associated with the number of the beast, that is, six-hundred-and-sixty-six (Rev
13:18).
Finally, we do not find a physical description of this figure, a common feature
of several texts that deal with the Antichrist.28 The text is more interested in
describing the moral characteristics of the figure. Bousset believes that in
Ephraem Graecus’ sermon the antichrist appears only as an instrument of Satan
and not as an incarnation of the devil.29
The fact that the Antichrist is not physically described in the Ephremian
literature allows for his diachronicity: it stresses his supernatural, demonic

24
Cf. W. Bousset, Der Antichrist, p. 90.
25
See W. Bousset, Der Antichrist, p. 8.
26
Cf. Hippolytus, On Christ and the Antichrist 6. The figure in Ephraem appears to be closer to
Ireneaus’s of Lyon, Adversus Haereses V.25, who bases his analysis on 2 Thess.
27
On the Jewish origin of the Antichrist, see Hippolytus, On Christ and the Antichrist 14.
According to Bousset (p. 114) the fact that the Antichrist in the Greek Ephremian tradition
does not include the motif of his birth from the tribe of Dan suggests that Ephraem
graecus has preserved a number of ancient traditions around the figure of the Antichrist.
The information that the Antichrist would sit in the Temple of Jerusalem is missing from
the Ephraem gr. and Ps.-Hippolytus. Accordingly, he is not a Jewish pseudo-messianic
figure.
28
For a physical description of the Antichrist, s. the Coptic Apocalypse of Elijah (ed. Pietersma-
Attridge-Comstock, 1981), the Apocalypse of St. John the Theologian (ed. Konstantin von
Tischendorf, Apocalypses apocryphae. Leipzig, 1866), and the Syriac Testament of our Lord Jesus
Christ (ed. Ignatius Ephraem Rahmani, Testamentum Domini Nostri Christi, Mainz: Kirchheim,
1899).
29
W. Bousset, Der Antichrist, p. 90.

172
 Ephraem Graecus, ‘Sermo In Adventum Domini’

character and he is not bound to be associated with any earthly figure. Perhaps
the Greek sermon reflects a transition period in the antichrist literature, in which
the figure becomes a pure literary topos, disassociated from specific political or
historical crises.30
The most striking feature of our text, however, remains the lack of any
historical or political dimensions, which were characteristic for the
representative treatises of Early Christian apocalyptic literature. W. Bousset
argued that the absence of any specific political or historical elements was due to
the fact that the sermon referred only to the very end of times.31 The absence of
political elements could also refer to an internal church crisis, which could have
triggered the composition of the eschatological writing. Another possible
explanation could be that authors from the second and third centuries still lived
in times of intense religious and political insecurity for the Christian
communities. They were exposed thus to a more pressing political situation,
when the imminent fall of the Roman Empire was maybe even aspired to as an
apocalyptic necessity. Accordingly, our sermon might reflect a time period of
certain stability after the official establishment of Christianity in the Roman
Empire. Moreover, the text does not seem to be concerned with foreign invasions
of barbarian tribes.
An interesting parallel text to our sermon is, a text entitled On the
Consummation of the World, which is pseudepigraphically attributed to Ps.-
Hippolytus32. As is well known, Hippolytus penned a famous text, called: “On
Christ and Antichrist”, which had an enormous impact on the reception and
development the Antichrist figure in the Christian literature for centuries to
come. Accordingly, he was considered as the foremost authority on this
eschatological motif. As Wilhelm Bousset has observed, Pseudo-Hippolytus’ work,
De Consummatione Mundi incorporated long passages from Ps.-Ephraem’s sermon
On the Second Coming of Christ although not in the same order as in the sermon.33
The dating of the text by Ps.-Hippolytus is a controversial issue, but it is probably
not earlier than the late fourth century.34 Two Italian scholars, S. Gennari and O.

30
Similarly, Cyril of Jerusalem depicts an eschatological figure with no earthly origin or
genealogy (Christian Badilita, Metamorphoses de l’Antichriste chez les pères de l’ église, Paris:
Éditions Beauchesne, 2005, p. 361; henceforth, C. Badilita, Metamorphoses de l’Antichriste).
31
W. Bousset, Der Antichrist, p. 38.
32
Ed. GCS 1, see above n. 23.
33
W. Bousset, Der Antichrist, p. 25-27; C. Badilita argues, however, that the opposite holds
true, namely, that it must have been Pseudo-Hippolytus, who has influenced (Latin?)
Pseudo-Ephraem, Metamorphoses de l’Antichrist, p. 372.
34
See Alice Wheatley, ʻDe Consummatione Mundi of Pseudo-Hippolytus: Another Byzantine
Apocalypse from the Early Islamic Period᾽, Byzantion 66 (1996), pp. 461-469, who argues for
a dating as late as in the 7th cent. She suggests, further, a Syriac or Palestinian provenance

173
 Emmanouela Grypeou

Andrei have argued in two different studies that the Antichrist-Devil figure of the
De Consummatione Mundi can be identified with the emperor Julian, commonly
known as Julian the Apostate.35 Both Gennari and Andrei even maintain that the
demonisation of the Antichrist figure was influenced by the demonisation of
Julian the Apostate in the patristic literature, as evidenced in writings such as
Gregory of Nazianzus’ Against Julian.36 They read in the text historical events that
correspond to Julian’s attitude towards the Christians, such as his change of
imperial politics regarding the treatments and position of the Christian Church in
the Empire, and of course his favorisation of the Jews, as documented in his
treatise, Against the Galileans (Christians)37 and finally in the most obvious event of
all, his attempt to re-build the temple in Jerusalem.38
The Antichrist as a friend of the Jews, who will rebuild the temple in
Jerusalem is admittedly a common –and early- topos in the Antichrist literature.39
Moreover, the connection of actual historical persons and events with familiar
literary motifs constitutes a standard feature of the apocalyptic genre. Thus, the
hypothesis of the portrayal of Julian as an Antichrist figure sounds plausible.
However, considering Ps.-Hippolytus’s probable literary dependence on Ephraem
Graecus, it could have been Ps.-Ephraem, who first described Julian as a demonic
king.
There is further the possibility that this particular text circulated under the
name of Ephraem because of his well-known polemical poem against Julian.
Julian is described by Ephraem as a friend of the demons, as a worshipper of the
devil and as an idolater. Moreover, the failure of his plan to re-build the temple of
Jerusalem is described in vivid apocalyptic language.40

of the text, which she considers as dependent on Ephraem Graecus’ Sermon on the Second
Coming of Christ, as well.
35
S. Gennari, Aspetti del cristianesimo di età teodosiana. Il De Consummatione mundi dello
Ps.Ippolito, tesi di laurea, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Università degli Studi di Siena, 1997-
8; O. Andrei, ʻAspetti del costruirsi della (e di una) identità cristiana: l᾽Anticristo di
Ippolito᾽, Annali di Storia dell᾽Esegesi 20:1 (2003), pp. 75-1 10 (monograph La costruzione
dell᾽identità cristiana tra Oriente ed Occidente (I-VII secolo)).
36
Contra Julianum Imperatorem, Patrologia Graeca 35, cols 532-720.
37
See C. J. Neumann, Iuliani Imperatoris Librorum contra Christianos quae supersunt, Leipzig,
1880.
38
See Glen Warren Bowersock, Julian the Apostate, London: Duckworth, 1978; Shaun Tougher,
Julian the Apostate; Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007; C. Badilita, Metamorphoses
de l’Antichriste, pp. 376f.
39
See Hippolytus, On Christ and Antichrist 25; cf. G. Jenks, Origins and Development, pp. 269f.
40
See E. Beck, Des heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de Paradiso und Contra Julianum (CSCO
174/175 - script. syr. 78/79), Louvain, 1956, s. esp. IV. 18-23. See also D. Levenson, ʻJulian’s
Attempt to rebuild the Temple: An inventory of ancient and medieval sources᾽, in Harold
W. Aattridge et al. (eds), On Scribes and Scrolls, Lanham, Maryland, 1990, pp. 261-279.
Levenson points out that Ephraem has used for this poem “a widespread oral tradition

174
 Ephraem Graecus, ‘Sermo In Adventum Domini’

The pseudo-Ephrem sermon could have even originated shortly after Julian’s
death in 363 under the impact of his anti-Christian policy. The sermon makes use
in particular of the lore of the Antichrist as an enemy of God and of Christianity.
Significantly, the focus of the sermon is precisely the hostility of the “tyrant”
against true faith. Accordingly, the author would have combined cryptic
historical hints with well-known mythological motifs.

Ephraem Graecus’ Sermo in Adventum Domini

in relation with the Latin and Syriac pseudo-ephremian apocalyptic texts

As mentioned above, in the corpus, which is transmitted under the name of

Ephraem there are two more apocalyptic texts that are related to the Greek
sermon with respect to the literary genre: a text in Latin under the title: De Fine
Mundi et de Consummatione Saeculi and a text in Syriac, under the title: A Sermon of
Mar Ephraem on the End, and the Consummation, the Judgement and the Reward and on
Agog and Magog and the False Messiah. These texts demonstrate important
commonalities to the Greek sermon, such as, most significantly, the use of the
figure of the Antichrist. However, both the Syriac and the Latin text are closer
from a literary point of view, to the genre of the political apocalypse, whereas the
Greek text presents a typical sermon. The Latin text shares some common
passages with the Greek text and the Syriac text with the Latin but there are no
apparent direct connections between the Syriac and the Greek sermons. Both
Latin and Syriac texts have been dated as early as the last decades of the fourth
century and as late as the end of the seventh century.41
All three texts place the focus of their narrative naturally at the end times.
Syriac and Latin Ephraem stress the political aspect of the end of times by
describing wars between kingdoms. There are precisely mentioned in Latin
Ephraem as the Persian and Latin Empires, whereas the Syriac Ephraem mentions

elaborated in Christian circles” (p. 265). See also Sidney Griffith, ʻEphraem the Syrian’s
Hymns ‘Against Julian’. Meditation on History and Imperial Power᾽, Vigiliae Christianae 41
(1987), pp. 238-266.
41
W. Bousset has argued for a an early date for the Latin text, around 373C.E. (Der Antichrist,
p. 21f.). Paul J. Alexander has suggested that the text must have received its final form in
the late 6th cent or early 7th cent because of certain references to Syriac literary motifs that
do not appear before the early 6th cent (The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition, Berkeley & L.A.,
1985, p. 147). The Syriac text is considered to be one of the earliest apocalypses to appear
in Islamic times, still Bousset dated it to the late 4th cent (Der Antichrist, p. 37f.). E. Beck
dates the text to the beginning of the 7th cent (Sermones, pp. 80f), which remains the
communis opinio, cf. G. Reinink, ʻPseudo-Ephraem’s ‘Rede über das Ende’ und die syrische
eschatologische Literatur des siebenten Jahrhunderts᾽, Aram 5 (1993), pp. 437-463.

175
 Emmanouela Grypeou

the Huns and the Ishmaelites.42 The troubles of the end of times bear cosmic
dimensions in the Syriac Ephraem. In both Syriac and Latin Ephraem his
appearance takes place after the completion of the Roman Empire. He is the very
last episode of the eschatological drama, representing the absolute reign of the
evil in the world.
In the Syriac and Latin Ephraem, the Antichrist will enter Jerusalem, will
rebuild the temple and will demand worship or he will make himself God.43 The
Greek text does not place the narrative in Jerusalem but it retains the element of
the false divine worship. In all three texts he is a friend of the Jews and the Jews
will congratulate him.44
In the Latin, he is of Jewish origin, born from the tribe of Dan45, not so in the
Syriac and Greek. Still the Greek and the Latin know that he will be born from the
seed of a man and an unclean woman.46 The Syriac and Greek Ephraem stress that
he will perform wonders through deception. However, the Greek Ephraem
mentions only the wonders associated with natural phenomena, whereas Syriac
Ephraem includes sings and wonders regarding the healing of people, etc. (but
not raising the dead).47
The Jewish character of the figure is stressed in Latin Ephraem which adds the
command of circumcision among the abominable deeds of the Antichrist.48
Possibly this perspective refers to communities for which the demarcation of
their limits with the Jewish communities was still an important issue.
In Syriac he is called “the son of destruction”, the deceiver of humanity.49 In
the Latin, he is the “worthless and abominable dragon”, the crafty dragon, who
will pretend to be gentle and loving until he succeeds in seizing the World
dominion.50 In this point the Latin text is particularly close to the Greek. His

42
C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 5; E. Beck, Des Heiligen
Ephraem, 359.
43
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, III 139E; II 227A; C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem
Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 7; E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem, 381; 441-445.
44
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, III 138C; C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem Syrus’,
in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 7; E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem, 387.
45
C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 6; W. Bousset thinks that
the omission of Jewish genealogy from the Greek Ephraem sermon and the texts, which
are dependent on it, is: “ein Beweis (…) wie altertümlich die Vorstellungen vom Antichrist
sind, die sich gerade hier finden” (Der Antichrist, p. 114).
46
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II 226B-C;III 137F; C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine
Ephraem Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 6.
47
E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem, 405-407.
48
C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 6-7.
49
E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem, 359.
50
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.224F-225; 227; II.136; C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine
Ephraem Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 6-7.

176
 Ephraem Graecus, ‘Sermo In Adventum Domini’

servants in Syriac and Greek are demons.51 During his rule there will be terror
and fear.52 In all texts the righteous and the elect will flee to the mountains and
these will be saved.53
His time, which will be mainly characterised by extreme draught and famine54
will last 3 ½ years in the Greek and Latin texts55 in accordance with John’s
revelation due to God’s mercy who will not allow for the dragon to torment
humankind forever. In all the texts, during that time, the tribulations would be
that harsh that the living would bless the dead.56
Greek and Latin Ephrem mention the (serpentine) sign in forehead or hand
and the lack of bread.57 Furthermore, both texts describe how the gold and other
precious things will lie useless and unwanted in the streets because of the lack of
bread.58 Obviously, in both texts the message is that, although the Evil One will
demand from the people to bear his sign, promising them thus the possibility to
buy food, this sign will be useless at the time of extreme drought, as there will be
nothing edible to buy and even the abundance of gold and other precious items
will not help the terrible need and misery.59 Then only God can ultimately control
the elements of nature. During that time of extreme drought, the limits and
deception of the power of the Antichrist would be unmasked.60 All these texts
announce the coming of Enoch and Elijah61 and the coming of the Son of Man.62
The Syriac text includes a quite idiosyncratic tradition on Gabriel and Michael,
who will descend to destroy the evil one.63 At the end, the tyrant and his believers

51
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.222F; E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem, 427-
428.
52
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II. 223; 227-228; III. 139F; 140-142; C. P.
Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 8-9; E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem,
366.453.
53
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, III 142C.
54
E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem, 462.
55
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.29E; III.143B; C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem
Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 10.
56
E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem, 465.
57
C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 8.
58
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.227E; III.140F; C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem
Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 8.
59
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.227-228; C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem
Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 8.
60
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.228 D-E; III.141; C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine
Ephraem Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 9; E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem, 489-510.
61
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.228E; III.142A; C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem
Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 9; E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem, 478.
62
G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.229F; III.143C; E. Beck, Des Heiligen
Ephraem, 525-526; C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari, Briefe, Cap. 10.
63
E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem, 513.

177
 Emmanouela Grypeou

will be cast into the Gehenna or the everlasting dire, bound in Latin and in
Greek.64 Thus, we observe that all three texts make use of a number of traditions,
which are also attested in other texts of that genre. Accordingly, we can safely
assume that the pseudo-Ephremian traditions were part of a rich apocalyptic lore
on the End of the Times and the eschatological reign of the ultimate evil.
As W. Bousset has already noted, some of these traditions probably circulated
in oral form. Greek and Latin Ephraem share a significant amount of common
motifs. However, these are not strong enough in order to suggest a direct
interdependence. It rather suggests their mutual dependence on several other
traditions that the scribes or authors of these texts must have used
independently.
G. Reinink has argued in favour of a Syriac provenance of an original Greek
text, which is today lost65 and significantly, Kortekaas has proven on account of a
study of the biblical quotations in the text that the Latin text was a translation
from an original Greek text.66
It is possible that the Latin text could have used the Greek text as a Vorlage.
The possibility remains that the Greek text, which survives in the context of the
pseudo-Ephremian sermon, was originally part of longer political apocalypse and
of which today only the last part is preserved; precisely that part, which deals
with the last episode of the apocalyptic drama, the Antichrist saga. The original
Greek text might have served, accordingly, as a model for the Latin and the
Syriac apocalypses. However, the attestation of the Greek sermon in a number of
versions does not support this hypothesis. Moreover, it should be noted that the
popularity of the Greek sermon seems to have been significant, compared to the
Latin and the Syriac apocalypses, which do not appear to have been equally or
similarly widespread.
The Greek sermon preserves, rather, a certain independent tradition of a
demon-like Antichrist figure, presumably inspired by John’s Revelation, which
was incorporated in various other texts, such as in Pseudo-Hippolytus, De
Consummatione Mundi. Although this tradition must have been older than Julian’s
hostile politics towards the Christians, Julian’s reign could have triggered the
writing of such a literature as well as his identification with God’s enemy. The
writing would have later circulated unter the name of Ephraem the Syrian.
The outlook of the text is not a historical political one, because either the
author does not consider the Roman Empire to be under an acute danger or he

64
E. Beck, Des Heiligen Ephraem, 521-524; C. P. Caspari, ‘Eine Ephraem Syrus’, in C. P. Caspari,
Briefe, p. 10; G. S. Assemani, Sancti Patris nostri Ephraem Syri, II.230; III.143E.
65
G. Reinink, ʻPseudo-Methodius and the Pseudo-Ephraemian ‘Sermo de Fine Mundi’ ᾽, in
Renée Nip et al. (eds), Media Latinitas, Turnhout, 1996, pp. 317-321.
66
Georg Kortekaas, ʻThe Biblical Quotations in the Pseudo-Ephraemian Sermo de fine mundi᾽,
in Renée Nip et al. (eds), Media Latinitas, pp. 237-244.

178
 Ephraem Graecus, ‘Sermo In Adventum Domini’

does not consider possible current warfare as actual signs of the end. The author
is more concerned with the preservation of the faith and with the admonition to
his fellow-Christians. Characteristically, the text is written in the form of a
sermon, in the first person singular and addresses the brethren in a very personal
direct language. The sermon’s main intention is the warning of the community in
front of the deception of false material gains.
A possible milieu of origin could have been the monastic milieu in Palestine.
According to Badilita the main traditions according to which the Antichrist
represents the incarnate devil (i.e. Ps.-Hippolytus, Asc.Jes., Cyril), originated
around that area.67 Cyril of Jerusalem has included in his Catechetical Homilies (XV)
in the middle of the fourth century a similar treatise on the Antichrist.68 The
edition of a few fragments in Christian-Palestinian-Aramaic by Duensing that
appear to be related to the sermon could support this hypothesis69.
Concluding, the sermon On the Antichrist by pseudo-Ephraem in Greek reflects
traditions of the myth of the Antichrist that can be conclusive for the formation
and development of an Antichrist tradition both in Western and in Eastern
Christianity, even if only pseudepigraphically.

67
W. Bousset, Metamorphoses de l’Antichrist, p. 354.
68
Patrologia Graeca XXXIII, cols 869-916.
69
See n. 7 above; see also Alain Desremaux, ʻEphraim in Christian Palestinian Aramaic᾽,
Hugoye 1:2 (1998), pp. 221-226.

179