The history of the 'Slave of Christ'
Subtitle: from Jewish child to Christian martyr
By: Michael Aaron Butts, Simcha Gross
Series: Persian martyr acts in Syriac : texts and translation -- 6; Persian martyr acts in Syriac -- 6
Publisher: Gorgias Press
Published: 2016
Place of publication: Piscataway, NJ
Language: eng; syc
Translated from: syc
Number of pages: 255
ISBN-13: 9781463205737
Subjects: Judaism; Relations; Christianity; Jews; Textual Criticism; Christianity and other religions; Martyrs; ʻAbdā da-Mšíḥā
Other titles: ʻAbdā da-Mšíḥā.; ʻAbdā da-Mšíḥā. English
Description: "The History of the 'Slave of Christ' : From Jewish Child to Christian Martyr offers the first critical editions and English translations of the two Syriac recensions of this fascinating text, which narrates the story of a young Jewish child, Asher, who after converting to Christianity and taking the name ʻAbda da-Miḥa ('slave of Christ') is martyred by his father Levi in a scene reminiscent of Abraham's offering of Isaac in Genesis 22. In a detailed introduction, the authors argue that the text is a fictional story composed during the early Islamic period (ca. 650-850) probably in Shigar (modern Sinjār). Building upon methodology from the study of Western Christian and Jewish texts, they further contend that the story's author constructs an imagined Jew based on the Hebrew Bible, thereby challenging the way that previous scholars have used this text as straightforward evidence for historical interactions between Jews and Christians in Babylonia at this time. This ultimately allows the authors to reevaluate the purpose of the text and to situate it in its Late Antique Babylonian context"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-239) and indexes.

In English and Syriac, with Syriac texts translated into English; Introduction and notes in English.
Table of contents: title: Synopsis; title: Syriac Manuscript Witnesses; title: Versions: Arabic, Armenian, and Georgian; title: Syriac recensions; title: Development of the Syriac text; title: Shigar; title: Etiology of Cult Sites; title: Date of Composition: ca. 650 ca. 850; title: The name ʻAbdā da-mšíḥā; title: Child Martyrs; title: Use of the Old Testament; title: Jews around Shigar; title: Jews in the history of ʻAbdā da-mšíḥā; title: Legend of the Judenknaben; title: The 'Why' question; title: Syriac Recension A; title: Syriac Recension B.