Balai
Balai
Header
Balai (early 5th cent.)
巴拉伊 (Balai)（5 世纪早期）
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Chorepiscopos and poet writing in the region of Aleppo.
乡村主教 (Chorepiscopos) 与诗人，写作于阿勒颇 (Aleppo) 地区。
Chorepiscopos and poet writing in the region of Aleppo . His five madroše on Aqaq, bp. of Beroea (Aleppo), who died in 436, provide the only indication of his date and locality (ed. Overbeck, 259–69). These poems are very general in character and more interesting is his madrošo on the Dedication of a new church in Chalcis (Qenneshrin; translations by Graffin and McVey). According to the oldest ms. of the 12 memre on the patriarch Joseph (ed. Bedjan), these too were by Balai, rather than Ephrem ; it remains unclear which attribution is correct (Phenix prefers Balai). Later tradition knows Balai primarily as the originator of the five-syllable meter (also identified as ḥoʾen l-ḥaṭoye), in which numerous boʿwoto and takšpoto are written (samples are given by Zetterstéen); the real authorship of these remains uncertain.
乡村主教 (Chorepiscopos) 及诗人，活动于阿勒颇 (Aleppo) 地区。他所作的五首关于贝罗埃亚 (Beroea)（即阿勒颇 [Aleppo]）主教 (bp.) 阿卡克 (Aqaq)（卒于 436 年）的赞美诗 (madroše)，提供了关于其年代和所在地的唯一线索（奥弗贝克 [Overbeck] 编 (ed.), 259–69）。这些诗歌性质非常普遍，更有趣的是他关于卡尔基斯 (Chalcis)（肯内什林 [Qenneshrin]）新教堂奉献礼的赞美诗 (madrošo)（格拉芬 [Graffin] 和 麦克维 [McVey] 译）。根据关于宗主约瑟 (Patriarch Joseph) 的 12 首讲道诗 (memre) 的最古老手稿 (ms.)（贝德扬 [Bedjan] 编 (ed.)），这些也是巴拉伊 (Balai) 而非埃弗冷 (Ephrem) 所作；目前尚不清楚哪种归属是正确的（菲尼克斯 [Phenix] 倾向于巴拉伊 [Balai]）。后世传统主要将巴拉伊 (Balai) 视为五音节格律的创始者（亦被称为罪人之韵 (ḥoʾen l-ḥaṭoye)），许多祈祷诗 (boʿwoto) 和恳求诗 (takšpoto) 均以此格律写成（泽特斯坦 [Zetterstéen] 提供了样本）；这些作品的真实作者身份仍不确定。
References
P. Bedjan, Histoire complète de Joseph par Saint Ephrem (2nd ed. 1891).
J. J. Overbeck, S. Ephraemi Syri Rabulae episcopi Edesseni Balaei aliorumque opera selecta (1865; repr. 2007), 251–336.
K. V. Zetterstéen, Beiträge zur Kenntniss der religiösen Dichtung Balai’s (1902).
F. Graffin, ‘Poème de Mar Balai pour la dédicace de l’église de Qennesrin’, ParOr 10 (1981/2), 103–21.
K. McVey, ‘The Sogitha on the church of Edessa in the context of other early Greek and Syriac hymns for the consecration of church buildings’, ARAM 5 (1993), 329–70, esp. 259–67.
R. R. Phenix, The Sermons on Joseph of Balai of Qenneshrin. Rhetoric and interpretation in fifth-century Syriac literature (Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum 50; 2008).
E. Vergani, ‘Isaia 6 nella letteratura siriaca: Balai e Giovanni il Solitario’, Annali di scienze religiose 7 (2002), 171–92.
Citation
Sebastian P. Brock. 2011. “Balai.” In Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage. Beth Mardutho. https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Balai.