EPHRAEM SYRUS, SAINT EPHREM, or EPHRAM (the Syrian), Syrian theologian: b. Nisibis, Mesopo tamia, about 306; d. Edessa, Mesopotamia, 373. He lived in Nisibis till 363 and played an im portant part in defending his native city against the various sieges to which the Persians sub mitted it. When the Emperor Jovian gave up the town to the Persians in 363, he, together with its other Christian inhabitants, left. He finally settled in Edessa where he continued to reside till he died, except for intervals which he spent in prayer and meditation in the desert and except for a journey to Egypt and a visit to Saint Basil, Archbishop of Cmsarea in Cap padocia. He held htunble rank in the hierarchy, that of deacon, but as a preacher attained high celebrity. He refused to be ordained a priest because he thought himself unworthy. His writings were very numerous, and many are ex tant. He used a poetic form in his homilies and harangues; and Saint Jerome tells us that his homilies (translated into Greek, for he wrote in Syriac) were wont to be read in many of the churches of Greece immediately after the Scripture lesson. He was a valiant defender of Catholic orthodoxy against the heretics of his time— Bardesanes, the Gnostic, the Arians, and the Sabellians, the Manichaans and the Nova tians. Some of his lyrics are remarkable for their simplicity and genuine poetic spirit. Even his honiilies are of a poetic cast and form. His works have been collected and translated into Latin, Greek, German and English. There are also Armenian, Arabic, Coptic and Ethiopic versions of the original Syriac. The most im portant translations and collections, many of which are preceded by accounts of his life, are: 'Omnia Opera S. Ephratmi Syri) (G. Vossius, ed., 3 vols., Rome 1589-98); 'Greek Text of 156 Writings of Saint Ephrem> (E. Thwaits, ed.
Oxford 1709) •, 'S. P. M. Ephnern Syri Opera Omnia Qum Extan Grmce, Syriace, et Latin& (J. S. Assemanus and S. E. Assemanus, ed., 6 vols., Rome 1732-46) ; 'Ausgewahlte Schriften des Heiligen Kirchenvaters Ephraml (F. Zin gerle, ed., 6 vols., Innsbruck 1831-46); 'Saint Ephrem's Commentaries on the Epistles of Saint Paul' (Latin text, Aucher, ed., 4 vols., Venice 1836) ; 'Select Worlcs of Saint Ephrem the Syrian' (J. B. Morris, transl., Oxford 1847) ; 'Repentance of Nineveh' (H. Burgess, transl., London 1853) • 'Select Metrical Hymns and Homilies, etc.,' (H. Burgess, transl., Lon don 1853); (S, Ephrmmi Syri, Rabulze Epis copi Edesseni, Batzi, Aliorumque Opera Se lecta' (Syriac text, J. J. Overbeek, ed., Oxford, 1865) ; 'S. Ephrxmi Syri Carmina Nisibena, etc.' (Syriac and Latin texts, G. Bickel!, ed., Leipzig 1866) ; 'Commentaries on the Concord ance of the Gospels' (Latin text, Moesinger, ed., Venice 1878); 'S. Ephrwm Syri Hymni et Sermones' (Syriac and Latin texts, T. J. Lamy, ed., Malines 1882) ; 'S. Ephrwm Syri Com mentarii in Epistolas D. Pauli, etc.' (Venice 1893) ; 'Fragments of the Commentary of Ephrem Syrus Upon the Diatessaron) (J. R. Harris, ed., London 1895) ; 'Selections Trans lated into English from the Hymns and Homi lies of Ephraim the Syrian' ( J. Gwynn, ed. and transl., in 'A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,' 2d scr., Vol. XIII, pt. 2, p. 112, New York 1898). Consult Alsleben, Was Leben des H. Ephrem' (Berlin 1853) ; Ferry, S., 'Saint Ephrem, Poete' (Paris 1877) ; Lamy, T. J., 'Saint Ephrem (in Dublin Review, 3d ser., Vol. XIV, p. 20, London 1885).