Introduction
[1]
Ephraim's Homily on the Sinful
Woman1, which gives an exegesis of Luke's account of the sinful woman who bathes the feet of Jesus with her penitent tears2, is a remarkable piece of poetic theology in its own right. It also forms the inspiration for a number of other theological commentaries in Syriac. There are two dialogue-poems on the subject.3 Two anonymous homilies are edited by Graffin 1962; a third was projected but is not extant. There is one by Jacob of
Serugh.4 Sauget 1975/6 provides a translation of another homily "attributed to Bishop John", which may refer to Chrysostom, to whom is attributed another homily on the subject in Sahidic which survives. This Coptic text shares many stylistic points with the Syriac homilies, especially in developing the dialogue between the woman and Satan and the seller of perfumes, a peculiarly Ephraimic interpolation into the Lucan text.
[2]
The popularity of this Lucan story is attested by modern as well as ancient scholars. Sauget's introduction refers to the plethora of Byzantine homilies based on this text. Brock 1989: 144 notes that this story is one motif that found its way from Syriac literature into Greek texts. Carpenter, in her edition of the Kontakia of Romanos, 1970, notes that this was "a peculiarly oriental
motif."5 Ode 10 in this volume is on the sinful woman.
[3]
My contention is that this focus of interest may be accounted for in part by the Syrian tradition of typology and symbolism, which provides, in the person of the penitent woman, a model for the whole of sinful humanity. In the case of Ephraim, the focus on female characters reflects his sympathy for, and understanding of, the local and specific audience for which he was writing.
[4]
This paper, therefore, begins with a consideration of Ephraim's typology, and the conflation of several female characters in the New Testament. This sets the background for an assessment of the available homilies on the Lucan story, in which what the Greeks know as penthos is portrayed in its Syrian mode as grieving penitence. The symbolic mode of utterance which underlies these texts, reveals the individual's remorse for sinfulness expressed in inner dialogues, which, being externalized, invites healing.
Ephraim's Life and Poetic Idiom
[5]
The dangers of relying on Byzantine sources for information about the Syrian Fathers are well known, and nowhere are they more present than in the case of the life of Ephraim, where a deceptively full Vita exists, which is not, however, corroborated by internal evidence from Ephraim's own
writings.6
[6]
His dates may be taken as c. 306 to 373, and it is generally accepted that he was born into a Christian family, ordained as a deacon, and worked as a catechetical teacher,
predominantly with women. The evidence for this comes from a verse panegyric by Jacob of Serugh, cited by
Brock7 which describes Ephraim as "a second Moses for women folk." In his wisdom, he saw that it was appropriate for them to sing, and he composed hymns specifically for
them.8 He died not long after having assisted victims of famine. The three sieges of Nisibis feature significantly in his works, and he also comments on his relationships with significant bishops of the day in his hymns. The appeal of Ephraim's poetry has been recognized only relatively recently, according to
Brock,9 who has played a large part in the renaissance of interest in his theological use of symbolism and paradox within well-crafted verse. It is as a "theologian-poet"10 that he should be read. His complex literary and linguistic devices, such as antithesis, paradox and puns, not only produce compellingly beautiful literature, but also illuminate his understanding of God. In particular, the focus in his writings on the dynamic between what is hidden and what is revealed discloses the fundamentally incarnational basis of his thought.
Typology and Symbolism9
[7]
The Lucan story of the sinful woman is treated by Ephraim in all three of the verse forms he favours: memre (verse-homilies), madrashe (stanzaic hymns), and sogyatha (dialogue poems),11 which exhibit, perhaps better than his biblical commentaries, the particular theological approach which is his trademark. That, at least, is the opinion of de Halleux.12 Regardless of the form chosen, Ephraim's works are moulded by his understanding of types and symbols13 as being not just important literary devices, but indicators of the mystery of God's redeeming work. The symbol does not merely represent something other, in a metaphorical sense; at some level it actually constitutes the other. For Ephraim, the hidden meaning of matter (which should not, therefore, be despised) is revealed by the "luminous eye of faith,"14 the process of hidden power known as hayla kasya.
[8]
Ephraim's use of typology, antithesis and other such modes is demonstrated effectively in his treatment of various female characters from the New Testament. They seek healing for their inner and outer selves, healing both from physical infirmity and spiritual disease. With the sinful woman, Ephraim focuses on the process of grief for sin by moving through various stages in the externalization of inner knowledge. This externalization of an inner state is quintessential to Syrian
asceticism,15 in which purity of heart is valued together with physical purity, and where asceticism is the condition of a heart and mind focused, in covenant with God, rather than the physical anachoresis of other desert ascetics. In all these homilies, it is in the crux between the inner and outer aspects of humanity that the ascetic phenomenon of grief for sin is experienced.
Conflations and Typology of Womanhood16
[9]
Ephraim draws on the existing Biblical conflation of Luke's "sinful
woman"17 with the woman who anoints Jesus at
Bethany18 and also with the woman with the
haemorrhage19. This conflation is found in the hymns and
homilies,20 and also in Ephraim's Commentary on Tatian's
Diatessaron.21 There are also references to the sinful woman in connection with the Samaritan woman at the well22 whom Ephraim cites as a model of one healed of impurity by her penitence and faith, being:
"a type of our humanity
that He leads step by
step."23
McVey, whose recent translations of a selection of the Hymns is most valuable, suggests that Ephraim's focus on these women is connected with the concept of spiritual brides. She also claims that:
"The anointing of Jesus by the sinful woman, perhaps to be identified here with Mary, sister of Martha, is placed in a line with priestly and royal messiahship, as well as being a model of
forgiveness."24
[10]
Certainly, there are many references in the Hymns to the virtues of physical and spiritual virginity. The image of the spiritual bridegroom is a significant feature of Syrian asceticism. A number of the hymns focus on the merits of oil, as used in
anointing,25 which also gives weight to McVey's comment.
[11]
But close examination of Ephraim's work as a whole reveals a more fundamental reason for the choice of this particular woman, namely the typology of Mary as second Eve. Murray notes that Ephraim adds to the established convention the analogy of the Holy Mother of God and the Church. The name "Mary" becomes, like Kepha, "almost a functional title," he
argues.26 A Mary was the first person to see the incarnate Christ and the first to seek him in the empty tomb at the end of his incarnate life. McVey follows this train of thought in seeing Ephraim's focus on Marian typology as fundamental to his incarnational
theology.27
[12]
The Marian typology provides Ephraim and his school with a model for a broader typology. Running parallel to this convention, which is an obvious echo of the Pauline motif of the First and the Second Adam, is a generic typology of womanhood as the heirs of Eve. The women who feature in these homilies and commentaries thus become models of sinning penitents. This is stated explicitly in the first of the anonymous homilies edited and translated by Graffin (1962):
"Blessed are the sinners...the guilty ones...the image of
Adam,"28 the author writes; "For in calling this one, it is our entire race that he invites to love, and in her person, it is all sinners whom he invites to
pardon."29
The forgiveness offered to the sinful woman is extended, by analogy, to all the faithful penitent, through the institution of the Divine Liturgy, the bloodless sacrifice of the Incarnate
Saviour.30
[13]
The fact of these being women in need of healing is used to a theological end by Ephraim, as attested in Section 15 of part 7 of the Commentary on the Diatessaron, where Ephraim reflects that faith in the incarnation is inspired by the healing of an unclean womb by the one born of a pure
womb.31 Both the woman with the haemorrhage and the "sinful woman" consciously seek out Jesus, one covertly, the other openly, with a physical manifestation of an inner need for healing. They demonstrate that they have the "eye of faith" required in order to be open to God. Female sexuality, represented by the hidden gynaecological ailments and the overt sexuality of the supposed prostitute, thus become symbolic of the whole of humanity's need for cleansing and healing by the Second Adam. The healing of mind and body are interdependent because of their
indivisibility.32 The Syrian tradition elaborates on the gynaecological metaphor by describing sin as sterility, which penitence restores to
fecundity,33 in the context of becoming a pure bride of Christ.
Grieving Penitence and the Sinful Woman
[14]
In the Syrian tradition represented by these homilies, certain themes and modes of operating recur. The first to be noticed is that the homilies start with a part of the narration not found in the Biblical story as it has come down to us. Ephraim's madrashe introduce the person of Satan as a personification of the sinful
woman's former state and of her doubts about her acceptability to Jesus. This allows for extended inner dialogue. The perfume-seller is also introduced in some of these homilies.
[15]
The second theme is that the woman's own attributes are the instruments of her healing. Her impurity is transformed through the correct use of her body. The restoration offered to her by Jesus is comprehensive, and heals - rather than spurning as unworthy - the woman's physical condition, as well as her soul. The analogy between physical illness and mental or spiritual affliction has already been noted, and the juxtaposition of this story with that of the woman with an issue of blood reinforces this motif.
[16]
Both women's love and faith constitute a typology of the mystery of salvation, with the visible redeeming the invisible, through the eye of faith. Symbolism and typology here are more than literary devices. They mirror the mystery of salvation, in which the invisible Godhead is manifested through His Incarnate Son, who secretly heals souls and bodies as a symbol of the whole person's restoration to the image of God.
Inner Dialogue and Personification
[17]
Ephraim's Homily on the Sinful Woman starts where the woman weeps for her sins and expresses her determination to change. Having said these things inwardly, "then she began to do [them]
outwardly."34 The two Sogyatha translated by Brock, which he believes to be clearly based on Ephraim's memra, both constitute a meditation purely on this point of conversion. The woman's conscience engages in dialogue with her old self, personified by
Satan.35 It is the awakening of her conscience which catalyses the movement of metanoia and leads her to weep at the feet of Jesus.
[18]
The homily translated by Sauget makes specific reference to this pricking of conscience which is accompanied by an "interior"
repentance.36 This text focuses on her inner thoughts, which are expressed not by audible words, but through her eloquent eyes and her
tears,37 for these speak to Jesus of her grief for her sins. Here, in this moment of spiritual awakening, is found the Syrian equivalent of the Greek katanuxis, expressed not in one discrete word, but in a whole mass of typology and symbolism.
[19]
In Ephraim's memra, Satan appears in several guises. First he appears as one of her former customers, then, realising that he will not be able to dupe Jesus, he appears to Simon, knowing that "secret things are not manifest to
him."38 Satan's role is similar in Nisibene Hymn
60,39 in which he berates the woman for abandoning him. Both in this hymn, and in Soghitha one, Satan acknowledges the superior power of
Jesus.40
The Transformation Effected by Healing
[22]
A recurrent motif in the Ephraimic tradition is the analogy between sin and illness. It opens Ephraim's Homily on the Sinful
Woman46 and is echoed in the second of the homilies edited by Graffin (1962), which opens with a description of the longing of the invalid for health, and how this is exactly the situation of the penitent sinner, who is "sick from sin". This author attributes her suffering to her remembrance of her sins, which is worse than the superficial suffering of her shameful
face.47 Jesus, in his mercy and wisdom, offers appropriate healing to those who seek him
out,48 and calls on the faith of those who seek, be they leper, paralytic or sinner.49
[23]
This analogy is developed in the case of the sinful woman. It is emphasized that the very physical attributes which had been used to charm her clients are the instruments of her salvation. Her humanity is transformed through her correct use of her
body.50 Her body becomes the sacrifice of a contrite heart (Ps. 51:17), with the tears flowing in place of blood, and the mortified flesh and skin represented by her
hair.51 Her approach to Jesus is overtly physical: she washes his feet, "the symbol of his
incarnation."52
[24]
The dual nature of Christ is mirrored by his receiving both physical and spiritual offerings, the table of food from the Pharisee, and the "table" of penitence from the
woman.53 The healing he gives is of the whole person, and the woman with the haemorrhage is mentioned again, to emphasise the completeness of the healing
offered.54 It is the woman's initiative which makes possible the gracious act of forgiveness; through washing she is washed, and in washing something pure, she is herself
purified.55
[25]
The woman's body is thus used appropriately now, and its integrity with her soul and mind means that all aspects of herself are sought out and healed. Ephraim's Homily on Our Lord states explicitly that the grief which accompanies the woman's actions is used by Jesus to heal her particular wound of sin:
"These medicines the sinful woman offered to her Physician, that by her tears He might wash away her stains, by her kisses He might heal her wounds, by her sweet ointment He might make her evil name sweet as the odour of her ointment. This is the Physician who heals men by the medicines which they bring to
Him."56
[26]
In other words, the woman has within her the source of her own healing. Her insight enables her to present herself to the physician as "the gift which He calls
secretly."57 Her repentance leads her to both grief at her sins, and the confidence that she is worthy of forgiveness and that Jesus has the power to effect this restoration.
[27]
Ephraim's gloss on this aspect of the story is that the prophetic power of Jesus, which is questioned by Simon the Pharisee, is demonstrated by her movement from sinner to penitent,
in silent supplication. Her belief that Jesus would know, without her speaking, why she wept, showed that she had "the eye of faith." This is "the power that changed her."58 Her wisdom59 and faith is contrasted with the blindness of the Pharisee, who, in not recognizing Jesus to be a prophet, "was himself proved not to know the Prophets" despite his
learning.60
The Eye of Faith
[28]
In the Homily on the Sinful Woman Ephraim repeatedly refers to Jesus as : "He Who knows what is
secret."61 The "interior eye of his
divinity"62 enables him to see that the woman's soul is predisposed towards penitence, and a parallel interior vision on the part of the woman enables her to recognize Christ as the Lord, and to ask him for spiritual healing. Through her physical act in anointing Jesus' feet she knows he is truly man.63 The prayer that she
offers64 makes it explicit for the reader that it is through the manifestation of His humanity that she dares to approach God.
[29]
This exchange of unspoken recognition between Jesus and the sinful woman becomes externalized, in order to provide evidence of Jesus' humanity and divinity. Ephraim elaborates on this in the Homily on Our
Lord:65 it is when infirmities are brought into the open that they can be healed; the visible healing symbolizes the invisible healing of
forgiveness.66 Reference to this may also be found in Hymn on Virginity 46:
"Insofar as tears are found in our eyes,
we will blot out with our tears the letter of bondage of our sins....
Who will give us [the possibility] that visible tears
will blot out concealed sins?
Who gives us [the possibility] that by visible things
an invisible wound may be
healed?"67
[30]
For Ephraim, the ultimate example of the invisible made visible is the Incarnation. The forgiveness shown to the sinful woman is thus inextricably linked with the manifestation of God's divinity through the person of Jesus Christ. In these homilies, this soteriological epiphany stands as one of the author's key theological insights.
