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De synagogae defectu

Cyril of Alexandria · khazarzar

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machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 315 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

De synagogae defectu is a polemical treatise by Cyril of Alexandria, written in a rhetorical and exegetical register typical of his anti-Jewish works. The text argues for the supersession of Judaism through allegorical interpretation of Old Testament names and prophecies, particularly focusing on the renaming of Abram to Abraham as a trinitarian proof. Composed likely in the 430s CE during Cyril's episcopate in Alexandria, the work reflects heightened Christian-Jewish tensions in the city. It survives only in a single medieval manuscript tradition, with lacunae and uncertain readings, and was not widely cited in later Byzantine literature, possibly due to its harsh tone and limited circulation.

De synagogae defectu exemplifies Cyril's exegetical method of using Semitic etymologies to support Christian trinitarian doctrine, a common patristic strategy in anti-Jewish polemic. It provides insight into 5th-century Alexandrian Christian-Jewish relations and the rhetorical construction of Jewish otherness. The work's survival in a single manuscript highlights the fragility of such polemical texts and their limited influence on later Byzantine tradition.

Historical context

The treatise was composed in Alexandria, Egypt, likely in the 430s CE, during Cyril's tenure as bishop (412–444 CE). This period saw intense Christian-Jewish conflict, including the expulsion of Jews from Alexandria in 414–415 CE under Cyril's predecessor Theophilus and Cyril's own involvement in anti-Jewish violence. The work belongs to a genre of Christian anti-Jewish polemic that used allegorical exegesis to claim Jewish scriptures as Christian prophecy. It survives in a single medieval manuscript tradition, with the text known from the Khazarzar edition based on earlier printed editions. The Greek text contains lacunae and uncertain readings, and the edition lacks a full critical apparatus or historical commentary on Alexandrian Jewish communities. The work's limited later citation suggests it had a narrow readership, possibly due to its extreme rhetoric.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

11 commentary units 6 term2 structure2 background1 sense 0 derived notes 2 open questions 2 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • coverageNo English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed.
  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: other in ancient Greek; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 2 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: khazarzar — Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
khazarzar-cyril-of-alexandria-de-synagogae-defectu:1 · narrativehigh
Source
Τοῦ ἁγίου Κυρίλλου, ἐκ τοῦ λόγου, οὗ ἡ ἐπι γραφή· Ἀπόδειξις διὰ τῶν ἀρχῆθεν γεγενημένων θείων χρησμῶν τοῖς θεσπεσίοις πατριάρχαις περὶ τῆς ἀμείψεως καὶ μεταθέσεως τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν. Ἡ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἀντωνομασία κατείληπται σημαίνουσα τὸν τριαδικὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν θεαρχικῶν ὑποστάσεων· ἐπεὶ γὰρ Ἄβραμ ὠνομάσθη ὁ θεσπέσιος πατριάρχης, Ἀβραὰμ ἀντωνομάσθη θεόθεν. Εἰ μέν τις ἕλοιτο διερμηνεῦσαι τουτὶ, τοῦ ὀνόματος τὸ προκαταρκτικὸν στοιχεῖον τὸ α ἄγων μετὰ τοῦ συνημμένου καὶ συμπελάζοντος αὐτῷ, τοῦ β φημι, πάντως εὑρήσει καθ' ὑπερβιβασμὸν τοῦ μετὰ τὸ ρ α, σημαῖνον Πατήρ· τὸ γὰρ ἀβὰ, πατὴρ ἑρμηνεύεται δήπουθεν. Εἰ δέ γε πάλιν διῃρημένως τὸ δεύτερον τῇ θέσει στοιχεῖον, λέγω δὴ τὸ β, μετὰ τοῦ συνημμένου καὶ συμπελάζοντος αὐτῷ ρ, διασαφῆσαι θελήσει, πάλιν εὑρήσει καθ' ὑπερβιβασμὸν ὡσαύτως τοῦ αὐτοῦ α, σημαῖνον Υἱός· τὸ γὰρ βὰρ, υἱὸς ἑρμηνεύεται δήπουθεν. Εἰ δὲ τὸ τελικὸν στοιχεῖον, λέγω δὴ τὸ μ, μετὰ τοῦ συνημμένου καὶ συμπελάζοντος αὐτῷ προσαναγνῶναι καὶ διασαφῆσαι βουληθείη, πάλιν ἀνθυποστρόφως εὑρήσει κατὰ σύλληψιν τοῦ αὐτοῦ ρ, σημαῖνον ὕψιστος· ἑρμηνεύεται γὰρ δηλονότι τὸ μὰρ, ὕψιστος· ὅπερ τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος αἰνίττεται τὴν ὑπόστασιν· Θεὸν αὐτὸν πεφυκέναι καὶ εἶναι περιφραστικῶς ἡμᾶς διδασκούσης τῆς λέξεως· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἕτερον ὁ ὕψιστος πέφυκεν, ἀλλ' ἢ πάντως κατὰ φύσιν Θεός.
English
Of Saint Cyril, from the discourse whose title is: Demonstration through the divine oracles given from the beginning to the inspired patriarchs concerning the change and transference of the Jews and the nations. The renaming of Abraham is understood to signify the trinitarian number of the divine hypostases; for since the inspired patriarch was named Abram, he was renamed Abraham by God. If one should choose to interpret this, taking the initial element of the name, the alpha, together with the letter attached and adjacent to it, I mean the beta, one will certainly find, by transposition of the alpha after the rho, that it signifies Father; for "aba" is interpreted as father, of course. And if again, taking separately the second element in order, I mean the beta, together with the letter attached and adjacent to it, the rho, one should wish to clarify it, one will again find, by transposition likewise of the same alpha, that it signifies Son; for "bar" is interpreted as son, of course. And if one should wish to read and clarify the final element, I mean the mu, together with the letter attached and adjacent to it, and again in reverse order one will find, by inclusion of the same rho, that it signifies Most High; for "mar" is interpreted, evidently, as Most High; which hints at the hypostasis of the all-holy Spirit, the word teaching us periphrastically that He is and exists as God; for the Most High is nothing other than certainly God by nature.
khazarzar-cyril-of-alexandria-de-synagogae-defectu:2 · narrativehigh
Source
Ταύτης οὖν ὑπὸ Θεοῦ τῷ πατριάρχῃ δοθείσης ἀντωνομασίας, εὕρηται σαφῶς προγεγραμμένον τε καὶ προδεδηλωμένον καὶ τὸ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος ἀποῤῥητότατον καὶ μυστικώτατον δόγμα, σαφῶς ἐξ ὀνόματος Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ἐμφαινούσης καὶ σημαινούσης καὶ μυσταγωγούσης τῆς τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ προσηγορίας, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τῆς θεολογίας ἀριδηλοτάτην ὀνομασίαν καὶ ἀπαρίθμησιν καὶ παράδοσιν.
English
Therefore, since this appellation was given by God to the patriarch, the most ineffable and mystical doctrine of the Holy Trinity is clearly prewritten and premanifested, the appellation of Abraham clearly indicating, signifying, and mystagogically teaching Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by name, according to the most manifest naming, enumeration, and tradition of our Lord and Savior Christ in his theology.
Citation. Tergwame, “De synagogae defectu”, khazarzar-cyril-of-alexandria-de-synagogae-defectu:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/khazarzar-cyril-of-alexandria-de-synagogae-defectu#s1
Colophon. Source: khazarzar · licence: Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0016 · generated 2026-11-15.