Barhebraeus’ Scholia on the Old Testament. Part I: Genesis - II Samuel

Gregory Abu’l-Faraj (1226-1286) or "Bar-Hebraeus" (as he is generally called on account of his Jewish parentage) is the most outstanding figure in Syriac literature. An example of the last branch of study is his Ausar Raze, "Storehous of Mysteries," which is a series of doctrinal and philological comments on the whole of the Old and New Testaments. The importance of the Ausar Raze for the study of the biblical text has never been overlooked, and many portions of it have been published since 1858; but the present volume is the first serious attempt at a full-scale production with a promise by the editors of its completion. The text, in photofacsimile, is Florence: Medicean Lib. 230 (dated 1278), and 19 other MSS are collated. A very literal translation is given vis-a-vis the text, and there are brief notes, confined in the main to pointing out the relevant literature. [From a review by S. H. Stephan in the Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society 12 (1932) 183 ]