ght
(_Syriac Literature_, pp. 246-250) has added further particulars as to the
MSS. in which they are contained. Probably the most important are his
exhaustive commentaries on the text of the Old and New Testaments, in which
he has skilfully interwoven and summarized the interpretations of previous
writers such as Ephrem, Chrysostom, Cyril, Moses Bar-K[=e]ph[=a] and John
of D[=a]r[=a], whom he mentions together in the preface to his commentary
on St Matthew. Among his other main works are a treatise against heretics,
containing _inter alia_ a polemic against the Jews and the Mahommedans;
liturgical treatises, epistles and homilies. His commentaries on the
Gospels were to some extent used by Dudley Loftus in the 17th century. But
the systematic editing of his works was only begun in 1903 with H.
Labourt's edition and translation of his _Exposition of the Liturgy_
(Paris). His commentaries on the Gospels have been edited and translated by
J. Sedla[vc]ek and J. B. Chabot (Fasc. I., Paris, 1906), and the Syriac
text of the treatise against the Jews has been edited by J. de Zwaan
(Leiden, 1906). Bar-[S.]al[=i]b[=i] was undoubtedly an able theologian; his
vigour combined with terseness in argument is well seen, for instance, in
the introductory sections of his commentary on St Matthew. Of his
originality it is hard to judge, as he does not usually indicate in detail
the sources of his arguments and interpretations. He does not, however,
claim for himself to be more than a compiler, at least in his commentaries.
His Syriac style is good, considering the lateness of the period at which
he wrote.

(N. M.)

[1] Jacob was his baptismal name; Dionysius he assumed when consecrated to
the bishopric.

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