(2) On the re^a-sion which Jacob of Edessa under- took in the years 704 and 705, see Urt. 236 ; Wright, p. 17. Michael the Great (1167-1200) tells of him that he became a Jew, because he suspected that the Jews, out of jealousy, had not communi- cated to the Gentiles all tiieir books (see Die Canones Jacobs von Edessa iibersetzt . , . von 0. Kayser, 1881, p. 52 f.).
(3) The statement that Mar Abba (+552) 'trans- lated and explained' (pes and Djin) the UT and NT from the Greek is made by Barhebra^us, Ebedjesu, and seems to hint at more tlian a commentary.
(4) On tlie version of the Psalm.s ascribed to Polycarp the author of the Philoxeniana, see Ceriani, le edizioni, p. 5, and Merx (ZA 349).
(5) From Greek ecclesiastical writers, Fred. Field (OrigenU Hexapla i. ) collected more than 90 quota- tions introduced by 6 Si'/jos. Most of them seem to refer to the Peshito ; * see Swete, Introd. p. 56, and Hamack, TU vi. 3, 31, 44 f.
(6) The fragments of the Malkite Version of the OT comprise now portionsof Gen., Ex., Nu., Deut.,
• One of the tasks to be discharged by future workers is to collect from the Greek Fathers all references to the Syriac Ian«;uage and literature.
1 and 3 Kings, Is., Joel, Zech., Job, Ps., Prov., Wisd. ; see p. 447" and Urt. p. 237.
On the work of the Massoretes ^formerly believed to be itself a version called versio Karkaphensis or Montana) see the Abb4 Martin, * Histoire de la ponctuation ou de la Massore chez les Syriens,' in Journal Asiatiijue, Mars-Avril, 1875).
From the Syriac MSS lying in the libraries of Europe the history of the tran.smission of the Bible might be very well illustrated ; and much useful material might be gathered from the Com- mentaries of the Syrian divines, even from so late a scholar as Gregory Harhebraeus (see J. Goetts- berger, ' Barheliriius und seine Scholien zur heiligen Schrift,' in Bibli-sche Htudien, v. 4, 5, 1900).
Eb. NI3STLE.
SYROPHCENICIAN {'Zypo<t>olvt.a<ra, 'ZvpoipoivlKiaaa WH, Zipa 'i'oLvlKKTaa WHmg) occurs only in Mk 7^ as the national name of a woman who is called in Mt 15^ 'a Canaanitish (Xai-ayaia) woman,' i.e. not a Jewess, but a descendant of the early in- habitants of the Phcenician coast - lands (see Canaan). On ethnic and other grounds it is unlikely that the prefix 'Zvpo- was meant to dis- tinguish the district from the Carthaginian sea- board, called by .Strabo (xvii. 19) J; tQiv A.i^v(pot.vlKij>i> yri, the latter being a mongrel race (Livy, xxi. 22), and the alleged contrast being of no moment in the narrative. The term probably denotes a Syrian resident in Phcenicia proper, and may have been in current use before Hadrian adopted it as the ottieial title of one of tlie three provinces into which he divided Syria. In Ac 21*-' the two parts of the term are already used interchangeably. Tradition (Clementine Homilies, ii. 19, iii. 73) gives the name of Justa to the woman concerned in the incident, and that of Bernice to her daughter. Swete, following but correcting Euthymius Ziga- benus, argues from the context, with some force, that the woman, though of Phoenician extraction, was Greek in speech as well as in religion.
R. W. Moss.
SYRTIS See QUICKSANDS.
SYZYGUS.— See Synzygus, p. 644.
T
TAANACH (^Jye; once, Jos 12^' tijs^b; twice, 1 K 4'-, 1 Ch 7-" ~:>ri, which is tlie form adopted uniformly by Baer).^ — An ancient royal city of the Canaanites, whose king was amongst those whom Joshua smote (Jos 12-'). It lay witliin the terri- tory allotted to Issachar, but belonged to Man- asseh, and was given to the Kohathite Levites. The Canaanites were not driven out, but they were put to tribute, or obliged to do personal service, as the Israelites increa.«ed in strength (Jos 17" 2V-^, Jg 1", 1 Ch 7»). Near Taanach, perhaps on lands belonging to the city, was fought the decisive battle between Barak and the kings of Can.aan, which is celebrated in the triumphant song of Deborah (.Jg 5'-'). The city was in the rich district from which Baana, one of Solomon's twelve commissariat officers, drew supplies for the royal household ( 1 K 4'^) ; and is mentioned in close connexion with Megiddo — 'Taanach by (or ' upon ') the waters of Megiddo ' ( Jg 5"). It was apparently one of the line of fortresses (Dor, Megiddo, T.i.ui.ach, and Bethshean) whicli stretched across the country from west to east, and guarded the main avenues of approach to the great plain of Esdraelon from the .south. As such it is men- tioned with Mefjiddo in the list of Thothmes III. at Kamak, and again in the list of Sheshonl^,
(Shishak) (Max Miiller, Asien u. Europ. 158, 170). Eu.sebius and Jerome [Onom. s. Qaai'dx, Sai-a/f, Tluntnark) describe it as 'a very large village,' 4 or 3 Koman miles from Legio, and it is now Ta'annuk, about 4^ miles from Lejjun. In the 13th cent, the manor of Thanis (Taanach) is noted as forming part of the possessions of the Abbey of St. Mar}' in the valley of Jehoshaphat at Jerusalem. Ta'annuk is a small village on the S. E. slope ol a large isolated mound. Tell Ta'annuk at the S. edge of the pl.ain of Esdraelon. The mound ia covered with fragments of pottery and shapeless ruins, and there are ancient cisterns, wells, and rock-hewn tombs. Below the village is a small mosque, which was perhaps a church.