Introduction

Anno Domini 2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. On this occasion, it is fitting that English-speaking readers gain access to an important voice from the ancient and eastern Christian reflecting on Nicaea’s significance.  The work presented here is from Jacob of Serugh (451-521), the bishop of Batnan—then a border diocese of the eastern Roman Empire, now in modern-day Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey.  In addition to his episcopal duties, Jacob was a prolific poet who composed in Syriac, the mother tongue of region. In this metrical homily (mimro), previously untranslated into English, celebrates the Church’s confession at Nicaea concerning the Trinity and the nature of Christ.

The Syriac text was first published in 1865 by J.J. Overbeck and later included in Paul Bedjan’s 1902 collection. The extant manuscript cited, a seventeenth-century copy held in the Bodleian Library,^[1] preserves a text recognized by the Syriac Orthodox Church as part of Jacob’s authentic corpus.^[2] A critical text by Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki based on additional MSS is forthcoming.

 In these verses, Jacob recounts the council’s condemnation of Arius as both a correction of error and a defense of orthodoxy. He interprets the event as a manifestation of divine providence and as the fulfilment of biblical typology—specifically Abraham’s victory over the four kings in Genesis 14, a familiar image in late antique Christian literature. The homily reveals Jacob’s sense of Nicaea’s momentousness and his poetic method of expressing theological paradoxes.  As Sebastian Brock has described, Jacob’s “theology of paradox”^[3] holds together seemingly irreconcilable truths about Christ’s divinity and humanity—a technique richly displayed here.  

Born 126 years after Nicaea, in the year of the Council of Chalcedon, Jacob lived through  deepening divisions that would soon fracture the Church in the Roman Empire. Remarkably, despite the fissures emerging around him—or perhaps because of them—Jacob’s ode to Nicaea is unclouded with the fog of contemporary controversies. Both later Miaphysite admirers of Jacob and their Chalcedonian counterparts have found this work edifying.

Although Jacob does engage in controversy with Chalcedonians in this homily, he does faithfully reflect a broader Eastern reticence toward Hellenistic speculation. Alongside his symbolic and imagistic language, he calls the Incarnation and the Trinity “uninvestigated,” “unsearchable,” and “unexplainable.” This blend technical and symbolic descriptions, though unusual to modern readers, would have resonated with his audience. 

Beyond its Trinitarian and Christological themes, the mimro also offers insights into political theology. Notably, Jacob devotes roughly a quarter of the poem (132 of the 495 lines) to a panegyric of Emperor Constantine, whom he calls an “apostle” (lines 55 and 115) and a “Second David” (line 112).  Constantine’s imperial power is portrayed as an instrument of divine purpose—defending the Church from pagan persecution and safeguarding orthodoxy within the empire. His victories and governance appear as acts of service to Christ himself.

As the global Church commemorates Nicaea in 2025,  this homily allows Western readers to hear an Eastern voice about our shared spiritual heritage.

Outline

A. Introduction: The Life-giving streams from Christ’s side flow into the world (1-28)
B. The faithful Nicaean bishops became stewards of the Gospel (29-50)
C. The Victorious Constantine is the Defender of Orthodoxy and the Second David (51-183)
D. The Emperor and Council opposes Arius (184-203)
E. Doxology to Triune God (204-237)
F.  The Father and the Son: Eternally Begetting and Eternally Begotten (237-265)
G. The Divinity and Eternality of the Son (266-285)
H. The Work of the Holy Spirit (286-321)
I.  The Distinction between Begetting and Procession (322-355)
J.  The Incomprehensibility of the Trinity (356-361)
K. The Ontological Equality of the Persons of the Trinity (362-411)
L.  Christ the Word of the Father, God Incarnate and Victorious Savior (412-496)

Mimro on the Synod of the Three Hundred and Eighteen Bishops That Gathered at Nicaea in the Days of the Constantine the Victorious King

by Mor Jacob of Serugh

By faith in the Son of God the creatures were illumined,
And by it, the blind world received sight and saw the light.
The Gospel has dawned among the peoples who were in darkness,
And because of it every region that had been dark gave off light.
The Crucified in His brightness is like the sun in its great brightness, 5
He chased the shadows of apostasy from the lands.
Night had bent down and covered the world in its detestable hue,
And like daylight our Lord appeared to us and in Him we gave off light.
The Apostles of the Son, like lamps of great light,
Went out to creation and all of it gleamed in their rays. 10
The Disciples became salt in a world that was in decay,
And whoever had lost all of his flavor was seasoned by them.
Behold, Golgotha’s spring from the spear’s piercing
Overflowed in creation and quenched it from its desolation.
Then, as it is written, the spring divided into the four sources, 15
And sent water in four directions and gladdened them.
These were the rivers that flowed around Eden.
They divided their waters among the lands and enriched them.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
Brought the water of life to the whole world through teaching. 20
They brought it from that blessed spring of Eden,
So that it would be abundantly supplied from Golgotha.
They are those rivers of the water of life,
Who so pleasantly water Paradise by eloquence.
From them gushed forth doctrine that is full of life 25
In four directions, and He filled it with divine fruit.
They are those rivers that divide the earth,
That have sent out water to the countries and the lands.
They divided into three hundred eighteen streams.
And these are those blessed waters of the house of God. 30
These are the bishops who declared the faith
By a loud voice along with that king that gathered them.
These are they who became like luminaries in all creation,
And like the light of day, their faith shone in the world.
These are they that pastured the Son’s flock by the spring of the clear water 35
That it might daily drink in life.
These are the ones who walked in the path of their masters,
And traveled in the way of apostleship without confusion.
These are the ones who declared the faith like John,
And in the accent of Peter
spoke of it without controversy. 40
These are the ones that overcame every vain doctrine,
And established one doctrine of truth in the whole world.
These are those who became the arms of the Church of the Son,
The great body of which the Lord Jesus is the head.
These are they who guarded the body of the Church from sickness, 45
That we might not be torn asunder by the fever of division.
These are those to whom the Holy Spirit became a hidden book,
And taught them all of the mysteries of the faith.
These are they who were worthy that in their day the Church of the Son,
Who had been oppressed, might put on a crown and raise her voice. 50
These are they who gathered with that exceedingly triumphant king,
Who also became a good worker for the faith.
King Constantine, who was most glorious,
And was exalted in victory and most praiseworthy among the victorious,
A man who became an apostle and a king by his zeal, 55
And a noble son for the kingdom and the faith,
When the pagan kings were rich in their domains,
And the horn of idolatry was raised up in all the world,
And the sword was unsheathed against the Church by her pursuers,
And tyrants of the earth oppressed the faith, 60
And destruction was intoxicated to kill the martyrs of the Son
And they entered like sheep to the slaughter before judges,
And the great path of crucifixion was awash in blood,
And the fire was kindled to extinguish the faith,
And the sword flashed on every side against the disciples, 65
And the Church was like a sheep among lions,
And the chiefs of the earth committed sin for their idols,
And the Crucified was hated by the judges and they threatened Him,
And idolatry ruled among the peoples and in the cities,
And the faith of the harried House of God grew, 70
Then the king, worthy of divine blessing,
Appeared like the sun and was filled with the light of faith.
The Cross itself appeared in a crown, robed in victory,
And the troublesome objection of the pagans ceased from humanity,
And the Gospel of the Son appointed a king that pleased it, 75
And by him relieved the persecution of the Church, the daughter of the luminous ones.
By its own virtue, it chose him from the house of kings,
That by him the kingdom might exalt the crucifixion without violation.
This one is worthy of being the first to wear a crown,
Since in him the Crucified is crowned with authority. 80
As the first fruit of the rulers of the world, the Crucified took him,
And made him a worker who builds the faith.
The Crucified who never has need of the triumph of man,
Took the king that he might assist the faith through him.
By him He quieted the troublesome roar of idolatry. 85
And he uprooted with his hands the high shrines that spread error.
He blunted that knife that was unsheathed
To slay the blessed and anointed lambs.
He turned away the dreaded bloody blade,
That evil might cease and no more pass over the innocent. 90
He carried in the crown the cross of light and was glorious in it,
He forced pagans to kneel under the sword and held them in contempt.
By it, he put pagan kings to flight as they fought with him.
And just like chaff, he consumed them by flames.
By the cross of light, he achieved victory in every conflict. 95
And by it, in every victory he valiantly gained renown.
By it, his bow returned in strength from the strife,
And every victory flew to meet him when he made war.
By it, he waged his wars, bearing himself magnificently,
And by it he caused his enemies to kneel and he tread upon them. 100
It was right for the crown to be adorned with the cross,
Since it declares that He is the ruler of all rulers.
By the height of his crown the king bore it and declared about Him,
That from Him flows authority of all dominions.
The favor of victory was fitting for this king, 105
Since he smashed idols of the earth in his zeal.
It seemed good to him as he closed the house of the gods,
To open up the Church of the Son by a council.
Crown and command came naturally to this king,
That it might be well known who this unwavering king is. 110
For this one, it was fitting that He placed crown and fame on his head.
I would even call this one who came to rule the Second David,
The second to possess both rule and prophecy.
This miraculous king has prospered by the two,
By successful apostleship and rule. 115
David was made prophet and king for the sons of his people,
This one likewise is an apostle and king for the peoples of the earth.
It was proper for David that he was made king and that he prophesied,
And for this one who became king and declared the faith.
David sang the mysteries of the Son even as he ruled, 120
And this one by his crown declared the Gospel of the Son.
He became an excellent worker for the Gospel and labored for it,
And he joined his will with that of the apostles for the proclamation (of the Gospel).
Through his commandments he raised up the horn of the faith,
And by his rule the Gospel sped through the lands. 125
By his fame all the pagans shuddered immediately when they heard,
That the Crucified subdued the earth’s regal power and stood on its peak.
By Him the exalted horn of idolatry was shattered
That had wounded savagely the virgin Church.
Through Him the winds of tempest and storm were reversed, 130
And the blessed seed of faith manifested itself.
In reverence, he set in place priests who had heard of his great deeds.
Since he was made a servant of the Crucified by his faith.
The Church, the dove whom the evil raptors had pursued and torn,
She sought refuge in him and he magnificently put them to flight. 135
The righteous king took part with the disciples,
That even he might also build the orthodox houses of faith.
Along with his crown he put on Christ and became His own,
And by Him he was righteously moved to his deeds.
As the storm of the pagans ceased for the daughter of light, 140
Once again vain teachings roused themselves to spread confusion.
Angry Legion made his dogs bark against the truth,
And instead of pagans, he set false doctrines against the Church.
Tares sprouted among the wheat of discipleship
To harm the good seed by evil stings. 145
Troubling waves on the quiet sea of discipleship swelled
That they might weaken the faith’s new vessel.
But this orthodox king, dressed in Christ,
Was zealous to strike all false doctrines just as he had the pagans.
He armed himself to engage in battle against error, 150
He sent and gathered together the chiefs of the hosts of the Cross.
He formed an army of the godly champions
That by them he might fight against false doctrines brought in by error.
He arrayed the three hundred and eighteen servants of the Lord,
That by them he might win the struggle that raged due to false teachings. 155
This is a mystery and it was portrayed in the Old Testament
By Abraham who also overcame by faith.
The kings of the peoples deployed a marauding band in his territory,
They wrought destruction and carried the land into exile by a great battle.
And Abraham valorously became zealous for battle, 160
And he faced the pagan onslaught in the battle that he fought.
He armed three hundred and eighteen men of war as well,
And he went out trampling the strength of the kings and held them in contempt.
He struck them and brought them low in combat.
By the fierceness of his servants, he put them to flight, 165
and depicted an image of the victorious Constantine,
Who when he became zealous for battle for the faith,
Formed this troop of the sons of light for the fight.
For this troop wonderfully made war against false teaching.
By a few servants of his house, Abraham offered a figure 170
Of the servants of the Lord with this king who gathered them.
For had there not been in that day this mystery,
Three hundred men of war would not have defeated the four kings.
The upright one, when he armed three hundred of his servants,
Prefigured this gathering of the company of the house of God, 175
By the orthodox king, worthy of divine blessings,
He fulfilled the type that the righteous Abram had prefigured.
Since he fought with his three hundred and eighteen men,
And likewise achieved victory by a few.
Abraham was victorious and gave a tithe to Melchizedek, 180
For this priest also was endued with likeness of the Son of God,
This priest, representing the person of the Son of God,
Rendered orthodox sacrifice and praise upon the victory.
The servants born in the house of Abraham clapped their hands,
And waged war against the strangers that entered their borders. 185
They became a parable for the entire assembly of bishops,
The three hundred and eighteen chosen who gathered themselves.
Together with that king adorned with victories who gathered them,
They chased from the Church false teachings against the truth.
One miserable outsider, cast out and full of woe, 190
Iniquitously dared to call the Son a creature.
Concerning the Maker, the slave bragged
And the outsider called the Creator of every creature “changing.”
And of this One that has the form and radiance and power of the Father,
The fool mislabeled Him saying, “He is a creature”. 195
And to this One who is eternally begotten from the (divine) essence,
He dared to deny Him by saying, “He is not begotten but created”.
And against this one a fire of faith was ignited,
And by it, his detestable fraud was exposed and rejected.
The righteous king formed an assembly of bishops, 200
And they expelled the wolf from the flock that he might not harm it.
Let all creation publicly declare concerning Arius,
That the Church does not worship someone created or fashioned.
And in the brilliant confession of the fathers of the whole Church,
Let all creation clap its hands in praise. 205
To the one All-knowing God who does not change,
To the one Lord Christ who is unsearchable,
To the one Spirit, perfect (divine) person, unexplainable,
Father unbegotten and Son who is begotten and Spirit who proceeds.
One in nature, one in authority, one in will, 210
One in power, one in dominion and one in majesty,
Unchanging and in one rule and praise,
One lordship, one unity undivided,
Three persons, One God, unsearchable,
Three names, one Maker unexplainable, 215
Father and His Word and the Spirit of His Holiness, one majesty,
The Trinity that is equal and pure from division.
The Father is the Root, the Son is the Fruit, and the Spirit is the fresh air,
One Tree who is all life for the one who draws near.
The Father the Light, the Son His radiance, the Spirit His brilliance, 220
One is the Sun whose radiance and brilliance are from Him.
The Father is the fire, the Son His flame, and the Spirit His heat,
One Flame that has heat and a white-hot glow.
The Father the Soul and the Son the Word, and the Spirit the Mind,
And who can explain (Him) when the discerning staggered from investigation? 225
The Father the glory, the Son the brightness, and the Spirit the splendor,
One is the praise by whose greatness minds are dazzled.
One is the Three, and however much you might search, you will find the One.
The Three are One undivided into parts.
One in three yet they are not confused in their names, 230
Three from one yet they are not inferior in their persons.
Call them Three, but never reckon them as three,
They are one for they should not be reckoned as three.
The Father, the Son, and the Spirit of Holiness are reckoned as one,
For the Trinity is one, not many. 235
Let inquiry cease and raise voice of faith,
By a deed of power that will not be subjected to explanation.
The Father begat — it was not said how He begat,
The Firstborn is begotten — it was not said when.
The Father begat His Only Begotten without beginning, 240
He is everlastingly with Him from the time that He is.
It was neither at a time nor in an age when the Father begat Him,
Rather whenever He is, He begat Him without beginning.
Affirm the Begotten but do not look for a beginning,
Since you can find no hint of wavering between Him and His Father. 245
Behold, all of times are contained in Him and are henceforth from Him,
For there is nothing beyond Him unless it be He.
No epochs and no reckoning, nor even time itself,
And no thought and no existence and no beginning.
Between Him and the Father there is neither anything nor nothing 250
To discuss or to contemplate or to conceive.
Between Him and the Father there is no compulsion that inquiry might enter,
It is suffocated; there is no place for it to survive.
Between Him and the Father no small thought is able to press through and pass,
If you try to arrogantly force it in. 255
Between the Begotten and the One Who Begat Him, not even reason,
In its piercing narrowness, is able to penetrate to ask anything.
The eternal Father begat the eternal Son,
The Begotten who is higher than all conception and expression,
The Only Begotten who is like His Father in His Divinity, 260
And equal to Him in power and strength and action.
The lofty Light from that boundless Light,
Is also God who is from unsearchable God.
The Word that has gone out in holiness from within Silence,
And has appeared serenely from the hiddenness of the Father. 265
The Eternal Almighty that is from the Almighty, the Creator,
The Son and possessor of the Nature by which the world exists and all that it contains.
By Him, everything came into existence from nothing,
And into His hands, His Father has set and arranged every created thing.
In Him the worlds of light and all their forms are fashioned, 270
And servants of flame and all their various kinds.
By Him the array of Gabriel’s order exists to praise,
And the assembly of Michael’s order exists to adore.
By Him that chariot of fading appearance was yoked,
And He prepared fire and wheels endowed with speech. 275
It is He who established for His service a thousand thousands,
And He arrayed myriad myriads of the sons of light for His majesty.
Behold He gave the cherubim blessings by a great shaking,
And the power of holiness to the seraphim by a loud voice.
By Him—that is, by in the Son—creatures came into being from nothing, 280
He is the Father’s great power and by Him He executes all things.
The Son is the wisdom and power of the Father and it is not said,
“There was a time when the power of the Father was not.”
Because the Father is eternally the Father, thus His Son is eternally the Son
And He appeared from His Father without mediation. 285
Thus, also the Spirit of Holiness proceeds from the Father,
And there is one nature and one will of the three of Them.
He fulfills all, He perfects all, He completes all,
He accomplishes all, and by His hovering presence He sanctifies all.
The Spirit is He who sang the prophets’ revelations, 290
And He revealed to the seers the hidden things of their thoughts.
He it is who revealed the deep things to the prophets,
And it is He who revealed the hidden mysteries to the Apostles.
He clad the Apostles with power and proclamation,
That by new tongues they might speak while “not being learnèd”. 295
The Spirit is the hidden teacher of heavenly things,
Since He makes wise the simple by cunning.
He it is who richly distributes all gifts,
And by Him the righteous are perfected that they might be with God.
The Spirit hovers over the offerings and perfects them, 300
And the Son accepts the whole sacrifices and takes them in (before God).
The Father receives (the offerings) that He might make all partake of His fatherhood,
And the Lord is one, since His Word and His Spirit are with him.
The Spirit of Holiness, He is the wealth of baptism,
And through Him new and spiritual people are born. 305
Through Him is sanctified the womb of water that bears fruit daily,
Sons of the Father, without bodily intercourse.
The Spirit of Holiness dwells in the water and in His hovering.
Spiritually reasoning children are born every day.
The Spirit is the fire that cleanses away 310
The thicket of debts from those who descend into baptism.
He divided Himself as tongues of flame,
And went out to burn the thicket of error from the regions.
It is the Spirit who anoints the priests to administer the sacraments,
And He establishes the anointed ones and the kings on the earth to lead. 315
It is He who also gives the priesthood and the pastoral ministry,
And prophecy and apostleship and consecration.
By the Spirit of Holiness each is cleansed, each is sanctified,
Each is sealed, each is blessed, each is made perfect.
He proceeded from the Father just as fervent heat from fire. 320
It is He who purges, who cleanses, who pours out, and who renews.
The Son, as a ray from the sun, is begotten of the Father,
The Spirit goes out in the likeness of the heat from a candle.
From the Father, the Firstborn is begotten and the Spirit proceeds,
And thricely the unsearchable Lord is one. 325
The Son is begotten, but the Spirit of Holiness is not begotten,
He proceeds from the Father inexplicably.
The Father is one since there is no other father beside Him,
The Begotten is one since there is no begotten except Him.
There is one Spirit since there is no spirit to be compared to Him. 330
One Trinity in three indisputable persons.
The Son of God is unique in His divinity,
And thus the Spirit also is unique in His procession.
Seth was begotten from Adam and was his son,
And Eve proceeded and—though from him—she was not his daughter. 335
Adam our father was not born of Eve,
But she proceeded from him without being born.
And she is not said to be his daughter though she is from him.
Nor is she called the sister of Seth but she is from Adam.
She was not born of Adam but she proceeded from him. 340
But Seth, begotten unlike Eve, proceeded from Adam.
Now, the three of them are one nature and they are from one,
One begetter, one begotten, and one proceeding.
For Adam begat Seth the begotten and Eve proceeded.
Three from one so that in them the Trinity is portrayed. 345
For he foreknew them and ordained them,
To portray His Son and to be a symbol of His divinity.
Adam fathered a son in his image “according to His likeness”,
So that he is a symbol of the Son who completely resembles His Father.
Eve proceeded that she also might signify the person of the Spirit, 350
Since from the Father the Hidden One proceeded in a holy manner.
The Holy Father portrayed in nature a type of the Son,
And by that which is of Adam He showed His symbolic likeness.
They imitated Him as much as possible that they might resemble Him
Though He is higher than all resemblance and comparison. 355
Behold! The birth of divinity defies speech!
It is inexplicable, it is indemonstrable, it is incomparable.
Neither likenesses nor portrayals relate to it at all.
Not even types or comparisons can approximate it.
Minds cannot recount it and intellects cannot speak of it. 360
Minds, as well as thoughts, are insufficient for it.
Many obtained the name of fathers, yet there is one Father,
Since there is no father that ever was a father unless it were He.
This is the Father who is eternally father,
And there was never a time when His beloved Son was not with Him. 365
This is the Father who begat a child, yet during his begetting,
His bosom was not deprived of Him, but rather He was in it.
This is the Father whose Son is without mediation and procession,
(Without) disruption and separation—as normal children—from the One Who Begat Him.
The Begotten is born though He was not separated from the One Who Begat Him, 370
And the Spirit proceeded though He was not separated from His Sender.
The One Who Begets is fire as well as light and when (the fire) bore the light,
All of (the light) was in (the fire) and it did not separate from it.
The light proceeds from the roaring fire though it does not distance itself,
Rather, the light is in (the fire) when it goes out like heat. 375
The ray is never torn from the sun,
Neither does dawn distance itself from the column of light.
There is no way for the Begotten to separate Himself from the One Who Begat Him.
Nor is there a way to separate the Spirit of Holiness from Him Who Sent Him.
The Father gives command, the Begotten gives command, and the Spirit gives command, 380
And the Three of them have one undivided commandment.
The Father acts and the Son acts along with Him, as well.
Likewise the Spirit; and the three of them are One Agent.
The Father is self-existent and from Him, who is self-existent, are the Spirit and the Son.
One Begetter who has the Begotten and the Spirit evermore. 385
One Trinity—eternal being,
Without end, without division, and without parts.
Within the Trinity there is the Father and the Son,
And the Spirit, and altogether He is one God.
The Trinity does not subsist upon rank or order or position, 390
One above, one in the middle and one below.
The Trinity is equally exalted and worthy of His exalted place,
And you cannot probe the depths or the ranks by which they are ordered,
The Trinity is not spoken of as if ‘this one is first’
And ‘that one after him’ and ‘that one is last’, one after the other. 395
It is not said of the Father, ‘the day before yesterday’ and of the Son, ‘yesterday’
And the Spirit, ‘today’ for They established each of these times.
The Father is old, but the Son is old with Him,
And it is not said that the Spirit is younger, who is of the same substance.
The Father is thus first and the Son is first also, 400
And there is no way in which the Holy Spirit is last.
In your own mouth, the Father is old when He is spoken of,
But according to nature, the Begotten is not younger than He Who Begets Him.
Your own word has a beginning and an end,
But the Begotten is also higher than the word of mankind. 405
Your lips call upon the Son after the Father,
But in substance He is not after Him but with Him.
It is not one, and two, and then three that you might somehow count,
But He is one and all know Him thricely.
I know the Father, I confess the Son, I am baptized in the Spirit, 410
I worship the One and when I have spoken of Him, Three is One.
I have known the Father and it is not after Him that I have learned the Son,
But with Him and in relation to Him, I have come to know Him.
The name of the Son is declared though you might not invoke the Father,
Since He has the Son. And were He not His Son, there would be no Father. 415
So also, the name of the Father declares the Son.
And there is no Father unless you know this One from that One.
The hidden mystery that came to bodily birth,
A treasure story that is interpreted for us in the Only Begotten.
An exalted mimro that the Word spoke to all the world. 420
And behold the creation is richly illumined by His story.
In the Son all the mysteries of God’s house manifest themselves,
And in Him He teaches us the height, the depth, the breadth and the length.
The Son of God opens our mouths to speak,
About the One Who Begat Him who is above all expression and language. 425
In Him, He has led us to the depths of divinity,
And we are empowered to speak of hidden things.
The Son declares to us these mysteries that were hidden
Eternal ones, lasting ones over many generations.
For our sake He came in the flesh from the house of David, 430
That He might show us bodily His hiddenness.
That He might become like us and be to us a brother and companion,
He became man though remaining God along with the One Who Begat Him.
He came from the Father and dwelt in the Virgin in a holy manner,
That His being might be imprinted on the coinage of the human race. 435
He came into Mariam though He did not distance himself from the One Who Begat Him,
He dwelt within the maiden yet heaven is filled with His greatness.
Spiritually He is completely embraced by His Father,
While bodily He is completely enfolded within the womb of Mariam.
Without body in the Father and yet bodily within the daughter of man, 440
Hidden above and revealed in the depths, He remains who He is.
With the One Who Begat Him He is a great and high champion,
He is contemptible and lowly within His mother and yet He remains who He is.
Nourishing the world, He feeds the family and gives life,
Yet grasping the breast and nursing, He remains who He is. 445
He grants women to bear children by intercourse,
Yet it pleased him to be born and He remains who He is.
Before all time the Father begat Him without beginning,
And in the fulfilment, He appeared from Mariam and yet He remains who He is.
The one that was rich became poor and yet He remains who He is, 450
The Great One descended to smallness while He was yet great.
The Son of God became one of mankind from Mariam,
He was God and He was man. Yet He remains who He is.
Beyond all worlds yet henceforth from Mariam and at all times,
Yesterday and today, He remains who He is, the Only Begotten.455
The Son of God, singular without addition when not incarnate
And one Savior when He was incarnate.
He is both concealed and revealed without change,
He is from the Father and He is from Mariam without alteration.
He is the Exalted One and He is the Lowly One without confusion, 460
He is God and He is man without division.
About Him it is written that “before the sun was named, He existed,”
And of Him it is said “Today I have begotten you.”
John also said thus while preaching,
“After me, One is coming and He ranks before me” and He is the only one. 465
He is coming after Him in this bodily birth.
And He is before him in that divine birth.
Magnificent in the chariot, unleashed in the maiden and inexplicable!
He who bears the creatures was born on human knees and He will not be investigated.
Feared among the highest order of angels, the cherubim shake on account Him, 470
But the maiden grows up carrying Him in her embrace and she is not afraid.
He dwelt within the maiden and was incarnate by her and appeared from her,
He set his face toward the suffering of the crucifixion.
The Father’s previously concealed mysteries He manifested,
The previously darkened earth He illuminated with His teaching. 475
His crucifiers envy for blood was aroused,
And He gallantly faced the onslaught for the sake of sinners.
He ascended the cross and distributed life to all the dead,
He entered death and came forth and brought the Gospel to all the world.
He was in the grave for three days among the deceased, 480
And He uprooted and scattered all the high walls of Sheol.
The Mighty One pulled down the erstwhile impregnable stronghold of death,
From it He set free the captives who had been imprisoned.
Like a diver, He dove into the sea of the dead,
He drew out the corpse and gave it life and returned it to its place. 485
He descended to the abyss; He sought and found Adam who was bound there,
He freed him and he ascended from perdition to paradise.
In the lower parts of the earth, He saw Eve who had been devastated,
And He dove in after her and raised her up and set her in her Father’s homeland.
He cast Himself into the great chasm that was filled with the dead, 490
And there He declared resurrection and returned to His homeland.
He ascended to heaven and through His death He took captivity captive,
That had ruled on behalf of the adversary, and He gave it to His Father.
He came, ransomed, and is coming to bequeath to those of Adam’s house.
It is He who came and it is He who went away. Praise be to Him! 495
Completed with the help of the Lord.

Bibliography 

Akhrass, Roger-Youssef, and Imad Syryany, eds. 160 Unpublished Homilies of Jacob of Serugh. Vol. 1. Damascus: Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate, 2017.

Bedjan, Paul, ed. Homiliae S. Martyriani Sahdonae Episcopi de Perfectione Christiana. Paris/Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1902.

Bodleian Library, Oxford. MS. Syriac 135 (Pococke 404). Paper, A.D. 1641. Described in W. E. Barnes and R. Payne Smith, Catalogi codicum manuscriptorum orientalium qui in Bibliotheca Bodleiana adservantur. Pars Secunda: Codices Syriacos complectens (Oxford: E Typographeo Academico, 1864), no. 135, cols. 422–430.

Brock, Sebastian P. The Luminous Eye: The Spiritual World Vision of Saint Ephrem the Syrian. Rev. ed. Cistercian Studies Series 124. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1992. Reprint, 2006.

Overbeck, J. J., ed. S. Ephraemi Syri, Rabulae Episcopi Edesseni, Balaei aliorumque opera selecta, e codicibus Syriacis manuscriptis in Museo Britannico et Bibliotheca Bodleiana asservatis. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1865.

Walsh, Erin Galgay. “Preaching Nicaea in Verse: The Legacy of the Council in the Writings of Jacob of Serugh.” In Nicaea and the Future of Christianity, edited by George E. Demacopoulos and Aristotle Papanikolaou, 117–136. New York: Fordham University Press, 2025.

دائرة الدراسات السريانية (Syriac Studies Department, Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch). “الميمر 206 على مجمع نيقية [Memra 206 on the Council of Nicaea].” Accessed August 25, 2025. https://dss-syriacpatriarchate.org/آباء-الكنيسة/الآباء-السريان/الميمر-206-على-مجمع-نيقية/.

J. Darren Duke is a researcher in Semitic languages specializing in Syriac literature and late antique Christianity. His work focuses on the political theology of the eastern churches, examined through theological, exegetical, and poetic texts in their broader Greek and Near Eastern contexts. He is currently completing doctoral research in this area.

[1] Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS. Syriac 135 (Pococke 404), fols. 298v–302; described in R. Payne Smith, Catalogi codicum manuscriptorum orientalium qui in Bibliotheca Bodleiana adservantur. Pars secunda: Codices Syriacos (Oxford: E Typographeo Academico, 1864), no. 135, col. 428. This MS is published in J.J. Overbeck’s S. Ephraemi Syri, Rabulae, Balaei aliorumque opera selecta (Oxford: Clarendon, 1865) and listed in Clavis Patrum Syriacorum, entry under “Jacob of Serugh,” indicating the Treatise on the Council of Nicaea is considered dubium.

[2] دائرة الدراسات السريانية (Syriac Studies Department, Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch), “الميمر 206 على مجمع نيقية [Memra 206 on the Council of Nicaea],” accessed August 25, 2025, https://dss-syriacpatriarchate.org/آباء-الكنيسة/الآباء-السريان/الميمر-206-على-مجمع-نيقية/.

[3] Sebastian P. Brock, The Luminous Eye: The Spiritual World Vision of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, rev. ed., Cistercian Studies Series 124 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1992; reprint 2006), 24.