Ishoʿdad of Merv, Commentary on Matthew 28:1
created: This entry is taken from Commentary on Matthew 28:1 written by Ishoʿdad of Merv
edition published: 2022-10-24-05:00
language: syr; syr
availability: Except for materials quoted from other sources, this entry is copyright 2022 by the contributors (David A. Michelson, et al.) and the Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project. It is licensed under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Some texts quoted in this entry may be in the public domain in the United States. No copyright is asserted for these quotations. Some texts quoted in this entry may have copyright restrictions and are reused under Section 107 of the Copyright Act (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/418

ܡܓܕܠܐ ܕܐܣܛܪܝܛ

, and

Magdala Stratonis

are directly attested at Ishoʿdad of Merv, Commentary on Matthew 28:1. This passage was written ca. 840-850 CE possibly in Ḥḏattā. Ishoʿdad was born in the early ninth-century C.E. in Merv, an ancient capital of Khorasan, a city now in modern day Turkemistan. At some point he travelled westward to upper Mesopotamia, where in 837 C.E he was named bishop of Ḥdatta, a city southeast of Mosul. Taking the name Ishoʿdad of Merv, he eventually became a prolific Syriac commentator. The testimonium is from a comment on Matthew 28:1 in which Ishoʿdad records several different explanations for the name of Mary Magdalen, which he ties to the Aramaic word Magdala, meaning "tower".

ܡܪܝܡ ܡܓܕܠܝܬܐ ܒܪܬܗ ܕܫܡܥܘܢ ܓܪܒܐ: ܘܚܬܗ ܕܠܥܙܪ . ܡܓܕܠܝܬܐ ܕܝܢ ܐܬܟܢܝܬ : ܐܝܟ ܐܢܫܝܢ̈ ܥܠ ܕܒܡܓܕܠܐ ܕܐܣܛܪܝܛ ܥܡܪܐ ܗܘܬ . ܐܝܟ ܐܚܪܢܐ ܡܢ ܡܓܕܠܐ ܠܡ ܕܫܝܠܘܚܐ ܐܚܪܢܐ ܕܙܢܝܬܐ ܗܘܬ ܡܪܝܡ ܚܬܗ ܕܠܥܙܪ . ܕܐܬܩܪܝܬ ܡܓܕܠܝܬܐ ܡܢ ܡܓܕܠܐ ܕܒܢܬ ܠܗ̇ ܡܢ ܐܓܪܐ ܕܙܢܝܘܬܐ:

Mary Magdaletha was the daughter of Simon the leper and the sister of Lazarus; but she was called Magdaletha, according to some, because she had lived in Magdala Stratonis; [or] according as others [say], from the tower of Shiloah ; [still] others [say], that Mary the sister of Lazarus was a harlot, who was called Magdaletha from the tower which she built for herself with the wages of harlotry

[Translation revised by D. Michelson from Gibson 1911]

Works Cited

[...] ܩܨܗ
[...] 116

Additional Bibliography

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