Manuscript

Arameans and the Name of God

"And among the Greeks and among us, this is indeed the very name as it is expressed; but among the Hebrews, it is properly rendered as: 'I am Yéhyéh; Yéhyéh has sent me to you.' And it is translated into our language—that is, that of us Arameans, who are Syriacs—as 'the Being.' Indeed, we find that our holy Syriac teachers—Mor Ephrem, Mor Jacob, Mor Isaac, and Mor Philoxenus—also constantly call God by this name, saying 'the great Being,' 'the hidden Being.' Likewise, we find that the holy Greek teachers also consider it proper to use this name above all others when speaking of God, in preference to other names."

Manuscript

We Arameans and Borrowed Language

“Heaven (shmayo), and all that we call ‘heaven’ (shmayo), is not of our speech, of us Arameans, that is, the language of Mesopotamians. And it is not from our language and speech, but is borrowed and taken for us from the language of the Hebrews.” Saint Jacob of Edessa identifies himself as an Aramean and sees Arameans being Mesopotamians. He claimed that the word “heaven” (shmayo) is a loanword.

Manuscript

Enchiridion on Various and Necessary Matters Concerning Nature

“So then, this noun kyōnō, as we Syriacs—that is, Arameans—express it, is derived from [the word meaning] “natural/capable” (m’eḳan). And because a single term or word does not suffice to elucidate and explain it thoroughly, but [rather] one must make use of further expressions that have, so to speak, the same meaning, either wholly or in part, [for this reason] we shall express it also by means of [some] other terms, in order to demonstrate just what the meaning of the expression is. We say of something that it is m’eḳan to mean that it is appropriate or well-adapted. People customarily say that something has a certain appropriateness in some way or other, and is well-adapted and properly constituted (kuyyōnō). So let us define meḳan as [meaning] appropriate, well-adapted and properly constituted (kīn), such that by means of all of these terms, we may discover what is the usage and the etymology of this word kyōnō, insofar as it is [used] in our language.” About the term "nature," Mor Jacob of Edessa mentions his people being Syriac-Arameans.

Manuscript

The Hexaemeron of Mor Jacob of Edessa

"It appears that the south was so named also by us Arameans. But as for the north, it is not known to us why it was called (such) by the ancient sons of Aram." Saint Jacob of Edessa, one of the leading Syriac (Suryoyo) scholars, explains in his Hexaemeron why the cardinal directions have their names. He proudly says “us Arameans,” explicitly identifying himself as Aramean, and credits the Arameans with naming the south. He also notes that he does not know the reason behind the name for the north, which he attributes to the ancient sons of Aram, ancestors of the Arameans of his own time and thus his own ancestors.