THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN IN SYRIAC LITURGICAL TRADITIONS
THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN IN SYRIAC LITURGICAL TRADITIONS

Summary/Abstract: This makes their interpretations lively and enjoyable. Ordinary people could draw profit out of this. Even minute points are taken care of in this sort of biblical interpretation. The curiosity of the readers is taken care of. Sometimes details that are absent in scripture are fished out from oral traditions, Targumic and Rabbinic interpretations etc. As a result the readers come across a very fruitful way of coming closer to the world of revelation in the context of meditation and prayer rather than sterile intellectual scrutiny devoid of the soul. The homiletic purpose of the authors is self-evident. Liturgical poetry is for pedagogical motive that takes the readers to the presence of self-revealing God. Vivid imagination, incredible insights into inner psychology, intriguing details of biblical presentation, vibrant dialogue of various biblical figures, lively narratives, dramatic tensions etc. appear here and there, making their scriptural interpretation very much present and influential upon the mind of the readers. In a way the Syriac Fathers try to explain the message of salvation with the help of psychological, typological and symbolical methods of interpretation. They are not tied down to verbalism, historical details and insignificant elements of scripture. They take the scripture as it is alive here and now. It speaks to the present. It is not a dead letter of the past. Intellectual scrutiny is not their key of interpretation. Human elements in scriptures attract their attention. Syriac liturgy is very much enriched by these sorts of patristic literature, out of which Syriac Christian theology and mysticism flourished into what it is now.

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