Gregory Bar Hebraeus, known by his Syriac ancestral surname as Barebraya or Barebroyo, in Arabic sources by his kunya Abu'l-Faraj, and his Latinized name Abulpharagius in the Latin West, was a Maphrian of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1264 to 1286.
14 Facts About Bar Hebraeus
1.
2.
Bar Hebraeus was a prominent writer, who created various works in the fields of Christian theology, philosophy, history, linguistics, and poetry.
3.
Bar Hebraeus wrote some in Arabic, which was the common language in his day.
4.
From Antioch Bar Hebraeus went to Tripoli in Phoenicia, and studied rhetoric and medicine.
5.
Bar Hebraeus preserved and systematized the work of his predecessors, either by way of condensation or by way of direct reproduction.
6.
Bar Hebraeus died in Maragheh, Ilkhanate Persia, and was buried at the Mor Mattai Monastery, near Mosul.
7.
Bar Hebraeus left an autobiography, to be found in Giuseppe Simone Assemani, Biblioth.
8.
The most important work of Bar Hebraeus is Awsar Raze, "Storehouse of Secrets", a commentary on the entire Bible, both doctrinal and critical.
9.
The work of Bar Hebraeus is of prime importance for the recovery of these versions and more specially for the Hexapla of Origen, of which the Syro-Hexapla is a translation by Paul of Tella.
10.
Bar Hebraeus has left a large ecclesiastical history called Makhtbhanuth Zabhne, in which he considers history from the Creation down to his own day.
11.
Bar Hebraeus used almost all that had been written before him, showing particular favor to the now lost chronographic records published by Theophilus of Edessa.
12.
Bar Hebraeus once mused: When I had given much thought and pondered on the matter, I became convinced that these quarrels among the different Christian Churches are not a matter of factual substance, but of words and terminology; for they all confess Christ our Lord to be perfect God and perfect human, without any commingling, mixing, or confusion of the natures.
13.
Linguistic works of Gregory Bar Hebraeus resulted from his studies of Syriac language and Syriac literature.
14.
Beside previously mentioned, Bar Hebraeus has left many other works on mathematics, astronomy, cosmography, medicine and philosophy, some of which have been published, but others exist only in manuscripts.