Doctrina Jacobi

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Stirling Bartholomew
Posts: 1141
Joined: August 9th, 2012, 4:19 pm

Doctrina Jacobi

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

For little little over a year I have been reading Greek texts that provide a record of early contact between Islam and Christianity. Doctrina Jacobi is one of these. Finding resources has been challenging. After an initial failure to obtain a library copy of Title: Juifs et chrétiens dans l’Orient[1] which contains a critical text of Doctrina Jacobi, on a second attempt the world class ILL specialist at KingCounty Lib manged to find a lender, Mendell Gottesman Library at Yeshiva University.

I have yet to locate an e-text of the greek. To find discussion of Doctrina Jacobi I have been fabricating short strings of what looks like unique text. This morning I found the expression "τὴν ἔλευσιν τοῦ ἐρχομένου" which looked promising so I searched and found several articles in English, French and Arabic.

The context is the famous passage that talks about "the Prophet."
Doctrina Jacobi nuper baptizati, ed. and trans. V. Déroche, V, 16, 209: “ Ὅτε γὰρ ἐσφάγη ὁ ‹Σέργιος› Κανδιδάτος ὑπὸ τῶν Σαρακηνῶν, εἰς Καισάρειαν ἤμην ... · καὶ λέγουσιν· Ὁ Κανδιδάτος ἐσφάγη. Καὶ ἔσχαμεν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι χαρὰν μεγάλην. Καὶ λέγουσιν ὅτι ὁ προφήτης  νέφανη ἐρχόμενος μετὰ τῶν Σαρακηνῶν καὶ κηρύσσει τὴν ἔλευσιν τοῦ ἐρχομένου Ἠλλειμμένου καὶ Χριστοῦ.”

Found in fn. 36 on page 38.

THE RELIGIOUS POLICY OF EMPEROR HERACLIUS (610-641)
IN REGARDS TO HEBREWS: PREMISES, ACCEPTANCE AND
CONSEQUENCES
REMUS MIHAI FERARU*

SUBBTO 63, no. 1 (2018): 27-40
DOI:10.24193/subbto.2018.1.02
I also found what may be the only english translation of Doctina Javobi at this site:
http://andrewjacobs.org/translations/doctrina.html

The historian Stephen J. Shoemaker, The Death of A Prophet 2010 uses Doctina Jacobi as one of several early witnesses that report Mohammed (the Prophet) leading the the Conquest of Palestine following the traditional date of his death in 632.


[1] Title: Juifs et chrétiens dans l’Orient
Author: Gilbert Dagron, Vincent Déroche.
ISBN: 9782916716213 2916716211
Publisher:
Year Published: 2010
Other: OCLC# 703437135, I found it at UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, Southern Methodist, U Colorado, U Chicago, Rice U, Hebrew Union, ...

Postscript: Doctrina Jacobi is the easiest greek text I have encountered recently. Simple syntax, copious citations from the Greek Old Testament.
C. Stirling Bartholomew
Bruce McKinnon
Posts: 37
Joined: October 21st, 2013, 3:49 pm

Re: Doctrina Jacobi

Post by Bruce McKinnon »

My curiosity is aroused. I did my own hunting. It seems that the text by Dagron et Deroche was published in 1991 in Travaux et Mémoires vol. 11 -- a journal(?) focussed on Byzantine studies.

Is that the book you got your hands on; i.e. a republication of the lengthy 1991 article (pages 47-229). I found this info by perusing Deroche's online CV: http://www.cfeb.org/curiculum/mb_deroche.pdf .
Stirling Bartholomew
Posts: 1141
Joined: August 9th, 2012, 4:19 pm

Re: Doctrina Jacobi

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

Bruce McKinnon wrote: June 29th, 2019, 4:08 pm My curiosity is aroused. I did my own hunting. It seems that the text by Dagron et Deroche was published in 1991 in Travaux et Mémoires vol. 11 -- a journal(?) focussed on Byzantine studies.

Is that the book you got your hands on; i.e. a republication of the lengthy 1991 article (pages 47-229). I found this info by perusing Deroche's online CV: http://www.cfeb.org/curiculum/mb_deroche.pdf .
That was the book that I failed to get. Turns out the only copies of that we could locate were in France. There was a revised edition published in 2010. If you're searching in North America use the OCLC number 703437135 that will get you directly to the correct Worldcat record.

https://www.worldcat.org/title/juifs-et ... /703437135


Author: Gilbert Dagron, Vincent Déroche.
ISBN: 9782916716213 2916716211
Publisher:
Year Published: 2010
Other: OCLC# 703437135, I found it at UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, Southern Methodist, U Colorado, U Chicago, Rice U, Hebrew Union, ...
C. Stirling Bartholomew
Stirling Bartholomew
Posts: 1141
Joined: August 9th, 2012, 4:19 pm

Re: Doctrina Jacobi

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

Here is an article for Spanish readers about the syntax of Doctrina Jacobi:

La lengua de la Didascalia de Jacob
Francisco MALDONADO VILLENA
Universidad de Granada

Available online from several sources. Having trouble providing a link that works. This link directly downloaded the pdf without any notice.

http://revistaseug.ugr.es/index.php/flo ... /3990/3966
C. Stirling Bartholomew
Stirling Bartholomew
Posts: 1141
Joined: August 9th, 2012, 4:19 pm

Re: Doctrina Jacobi

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

The following text raises a number of very interesting questions. Sarah Gador-Whyte addresses some of them. Most of them are off topic for this forum.
Πίστευσον τῷ Θεῷ, κύρι Ἰάκωβε, ὅτι ἐὰν πιάσουσί με οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ οἱ Σαρακηνοὶ καὶ κομμάτια κομμάτια κατακόψουσι τὸ σῶμά μου, οὐ μὴ ἀρνήσομαι τὸν Χριστὸν τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. [1]

Trust in God, brother Jacob, that even if the Jews and Saracens press upon me and cut my body into tiny, tiny pieces, I will not deny Christ the Son of God. – Sarah Gador-Whyte [2]
The syntax seems somewhat inelegant: Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ οἱ Σαρακηνοὶ <followed by> καὶ.

[1] Doctrina Jacobi Book V §19 para. 6; p213 Dagron & Deroche 2010.

[2] Mayer & Neil (Eds.) - Religious Conflict from Early Christianity to the Rise of Islam (2013) page 214 (226 pdf).
The whole book is online as a pdf. Just copy and search on her translation. Here is a sample that might spark some interest in reading Sarah Gador-Whyte's article.

The Jews and Saracens are presented as an allied and violent force. Justus expects (and possibly seeks) violence from the Jewish community and links them very closely with the Arabic community. This is the group against which Justus wishes to fight and die in the cause of Christianity, if necessary. By these means the author presents the Arabs (or Saracens) as the correct enemy for both Christians and Jews. Whereas the Jews should recognise their wrongs and join the Christians, he argues that both Christians and Jews should see the Arabs and their new prophet as their common enemy, again leaving traces of violently contested apocalyptic in the text.


This is off topic here.
C. Stirling Bartholomew
Stirling Bartholomew
Posts: 1141
Joined: August 9th, 2012, 4:19 pm

Re: Doctrina Jacobi

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

A memorable quote from Doctrina Jacobi[1]:
Ἰούδας γὰρ καὶ Ισραηλ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν πιστεύσαντα μίαν ἀρχὴν ἔχουσι καὶ βασιλέα τὸν Χριστὸν.
These words are inserted following a citation from Greek Hosea 2:1b-2
<Hos. 2:1> ... καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, οὗ ἐρρέθη αὐτοῖς Οὐ λαός μου ὑμεῖς, ἐκεῖ κληθήσονται υἱοὶ θεοῦ ζῶντος. καὶ συναχθήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ Ιουδα καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ θήσονται ἑαυτοῖς ἀρχὴν μίαν καὶ ἀναβήσονται ἐκ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι μεγάλη ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ Ιεζραελ.

Ἰούδας γὰρ καὶ Ισραηλ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν πιστεύσαντα μίαν ἀρχὴν ἔχουσι καὶ βασιλέα τὸν Χριστὸν.

[1] Doctrina Jacobi Book 3 §6 line 5 Dagron & Deroche 2010, p159.
C. Stirling Bartholomew
Barry Hofstetter
Posts: 2159
Joined: May 6th, 2011, 1:48 pm

Re: Doctrina Jacobi

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Stirling Bartholomew wrote: July 11th, 2019, 7:38 pm A memorable quote from Doctrina Jacobi[1]:
Ἰούδας γὰρ καὶ Ισραηλ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν πιστεύσαντα μίαν ἀρχὴν ἔχουσι καὶ βασιλέα τὸν Χριστὸν.
These words are inserted following a citation from Greek Hosea 2:1b-2
<Hos. 2:1> ... καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, οὗ ἐρρέθη αὐτοῖς Οὐ λαός μου ὑμεῖς, ἐκεῖ κληθήσονται υἱοὶ θεοῦ ζῶντος. καὶ συναχθήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ Ιουδα καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ θήσονται ἑαυτοῖς ἀρχὴν μίαν καὶ ἀναβήσονται ἐκ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι μεγάλη ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ Ιεζραελ.

Ἰούδας γὰρ καὶ Ισραηλ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν πιστεύσαντα μίαν ἀρχὴν ἔχουσι καὶ βασιλέα τὸν Χριστὸν.

[1] Doctrina Jacobi Book 3 §6 line 5 Dagron & Deroche 2010, p159.
This could actually be a summary of Eph 2:11-22.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
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