The earliest Arabic translations of Jacob of Serugh are attested in Melkite manuscripts from the Monastery of St. Catherine on Sinai. For Jacob of Serugh in these manuscripts, see:
the important study of S. Khalil Samir, “Un exemple des contacts culturels entre les églises syriaques et arabes: Jacques de Saroug dans la tradition arabe,” in R. Lavenant, ed., IIIo Symposium Syriacum 1980, OCA 221, Rome: Pontifi cio Istituto Orientale, 1983, pp. 213-245. For Jacob of Serugh in Arabic more broadly, see G. Graf, Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur, Studi e testi 118, 133, 146, 147, 172; Vatican: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944-1952, vol. 1, pp. 444-452 as well as, more recently, A. M. Butts, “The Christian Arabic Transmission of Jacob of Serugh (d. 521): The Sammlungen,” Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 16 (2016), pp. 39-59, and idem, “Diversity in the Christian Arabic Reception of Jacob of Serugh (d. 521),” in B. Roggema and A. Treiger, eds., Patristic Literature in Arabic Translations, Leiden: Brill (forthcoming).
Out of the ninety-six total homilies, Sauget suggested that seven were likely attributed to Jacob of Serugh in the manuscript: no. 10 (11); no. 14 (15); no. 19 (20); no. 38 (39); no. 60 (61) as well as tentatively no. (68) and no. 70 (91) (Sauget, “L’homéliaire arabe de la Bibliothèque Ambrosienne,” pp. 467, 475). The fi rst fi ve homilies in this list Sauget and Khalil Samir identifi ed with Syriac originals:
Homily no. 10 (11) (Sauget, “L’homéliaire arabe de la Bibliothèque Ambrosienne,” pp. 429-430; Khalil Samir, “Jacques de Saroug dans la tradition arabe,” p. 236) = ‘Entrance of Jesus in the Temple’ (B2 326 = B1 475 = A 165; P. Bedjan, ed., Homiliae Selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis, Paris-Leipzig: Harrassowitz, 1905- 1910, vol. 5, pp. 447-466) Homily no. 14 (15) (Sauget, “L’homéliaire arabe de la Bibliothèque Ambrosienne,” pp. 432-433; Khalil Samir, “Jacques de Saroug dans la tradition arabe,” pp. 236-237) = ‘Baptism of Jesus (Epiphany)’ (B2 170 = B1 253 = A 8; Bedjan, ed., Homiliae Selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis, vol. 1, pp. 167-193) Homily no. 19 (20) (Sauget, “L’homéliaire arabe de la Bibliothèque Ambrosienne,” pp. 435-436; Khalil Samir, “Jacques de Saroug dans la tradition arabe,” p. 237) = ‘Jonah’ (B2 140 = B1 209 = A 122; Bedjan, ed., Homiliae Selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis, vol. 4, pp. 368-490) Homily no. 38 (39) (Sauget, “L’homéliaire arabe de la Bibliothèque Ambrosienne,” pp. 446-447; Khalil Samir, “Jacques de Saroug dans la tradition arabe,” pp. 237- 238) = ‘Lazarus and the rich man’ (B2 208 = B1 313 = A 16; Bedjan, ed., Homiliae Selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis, vol. 1, pp. 364-424) Homily no. 60 (61)
An Ethiopic homily with the title ‘The Annunciation that the Angel made to Zechariah’ (በእንተ ፡ ዘዜንዎ ፡ መልአክ ፡ ለዘካርያስ) and attributed to Jacob of Serugh (ያዕቆብ ፡ ኤጲስ ፡ ቆጶስ ፡ ዘስሩግ) is found as the fi nal text in an Ethiopic compilation dubbed the Homiliary of the Fathers (W. Wright, Catalogue of the Ethiopic Manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the year 1847, London: British Museum, 1877, pp. 227-229). It concludes as follows (obvious verbal similarities that the Ethiopic text shares with the Arabic text).
This Ethiopic homily should, in turn, be identifi ed with the Syriac homily ‘Annunciation to Zechariah’ (B2 89 = B1 140 = A 37; Bedjan, ed., Homiliae Selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis, vol. 2, pp. 137-158). Again, this is a case of imperfect congruence: the Ethiopic departs signifi cantly from the Syriac text, at least as it is edited by Bedjan. Nevertheless, the similarities between the Syriac and the Ethiopic homilies are suffi cient to determine that the Ethiopic derives ultimately from the Syriac (A. M. Butts, Language Change in the Wake of Empire: Syriac in its Greco-Roman Context, Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic 11, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2016, pp. 53-54). Both texts follow the same narrative structure, though this is not too surprising since this structure goes back to the biblical text (Luke 1:12-25). There are, however, a number of places where the Syriac and the Ethiopic both add comparable material to the sparse biblical narrative. Some especially telling cases involve the dramatic dialogue between Zechariah and the angel in Luke 1:18-20. Zechariah’s response is as follows in the two texts:
