Editing Ephrem the Syrian (section)

== Pseudepigraphy and misattributions ==
Ephrem's meditations on the symbols of Christian faith and his stand against heresy made him a popular source of inspiration throughout the church. There is a huge corpus of Ephrem [[pseudepigraphy]] and legendary [[hagiography]] in many languages. Some of these compositions are in verse, often mimicking Ephrem's heptasyllabic couplets.{{cn|date=December 2024}} Syriac churches still use many of Ephrem's hymns as part of the annual cycle of worship. However, most of these liturgical hymns are edited and conflated versions of the originals.{{cn|date=December 2024}} Another one of the works attributed to Ephrem was the ''[[Cave of Treasures]]'', written in Syriac, but by a much later, unknown author, who lived at the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th century.{{sfn|Toepel|2013|pp=531–584}}

=== Greek Ephrem ===
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 |quote  = "It is a mark of Ephraem's enormous reputation that such an extensive corpus of works in Greek was gathered under his name. Where no Syriac original has survived, the question of authenticity arises. (...) The Greek works may not be so much translations as adaptations in the spirit of Ephraem using his favourite images. A widely held judgment is that the corpus is 'sporadically authentic'."
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 |source = – T.S. Pattie (1990){{sfn|Pattie|1990|p=175}}
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There is a very large number of works by "Ephrem" extant in Greek. In the literature this material is often referred to as "Greek Ephrem", or ''Ephraem Graecus'' ("Ephrem the Greek", as opposed to the real Ephrem the Syrian), as if it was by a single author. This is not the case, but the term is used for convenience. Some texts are in fact Greek translations of genuine works by Ephrem, but most are not.{{sfn|Pattie|1990|p=175}} Ephrem is attributed with writing [[hagiography|hagiographies]] such as ''[[The Life of Saint Mary the Harlot]]'' (extant in Greek and Latin), though this credit is called into question.{{sfn|Brock|Harvey|1998|p=}} The best known of these writings is the ''[[Prayer of Saint Ephrem]]'', which is recited at every service during [[Great Lent]] and other fasting periods in [[Eastern Christianity]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hostetler |first=Bob |date=2023-01-25 |title=Pray the Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem |url=https://guideposts.org/prayer/holiday-prayers/pray-the-lenten-prayer-of-st-ephrem/#:~:text=The%20St.,-Ephrem%20Prayer&text=Ephrem%20prayer:,and%20love%20to%20Thy%20servant. |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=Guideposts |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Passage |first=The Inside |date=2020-02-14 |title=Meditating on the prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian during Lent |url=https://akinsidepassage.org/2020/02/13/meditating-on-the-prayer-of-st-ephrem-the-syrian-during-lent/ |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=The Inside Passage |language=en}}</ref>

There has been very little critical examination of any of these works. They were edited uncritically by Assemani, and there is also a modern Greek edition by Phrantzolas.<ref>A list of works with links to the Greek text can be found online [https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/ephraim-graecus-works/ here].</ref> Amongst scholars, there is a broad consensus that the Greek corpus attributed to Ephrem is only 'sporadically authentic'.{{sfn|Pattie|1990|p=175}}

=== Latin Ephrem and other languages ===
There are also works by "Ephrem" in [[Latin]], [[Slavonic language|Slavonic]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]]. "Ephrem Latinus" is the term given to Latin translations of "Ephrem Graecus". None is by Ephrem the Syrian. "Pseudo-Ephrem Latinus" is the name given to Latin works under the name of Ephrem which are imitations of the style of Ephrem Latinus. One example is the ''[[Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem]]'', extant in one Latin and one Syriac version.{{cn|date=December 2024}} Also attributed to Ephrem are the ''Parenesis'' or "precepts", found in the 10th-century [[Rila fragments]] and the early 13th-century ''[[Kyiv Caves Patericon]]'', translated into [[Old Church Slavonic]].{{cn|date=December 2024}}