Mara bar Serapion (Classical Syriac: ܡܪܐ ܒܪ ܣܪܦܝܘܢ), or "Mara son of Serapion", was a Syriac Stoic philosopher in the Roman province of Syria. He is only known from a letter he wrote in Syriac to his son, who was named Serapion,[1][2] which refers to the execution of "the wise king of the Jews" and may be an early non-Christian reference to Jesus of Nazareth.
The letter indicates that Mara's homeland was Samosata, i.e. modern-day Samsat, Turkey (on the west bank of the Euphrates), but his captivity appears to have been in Seleucia, in modern-day Iraq (on the west bank of the Tigris River).[3]
Mara's captivity took place after the AD 72 annexation of Samosata by the Romans, but before the third century.[4] Most scholars date it to shortly after AD 73 during the first century.[5]
^The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum 2009 ISBN 978-0805443653 p. 110
^Evidence of Greek Philosophical Concepts in the Writings of Ephrem the Syrian by Ute Possekel 1999 ISBN 9042907592 pp. 29–30
^The Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature edited by Frances Young, Lewis Ayres, Andrew Louth ISBN 0521460832 p. 168
^The Middle East under Rome by Maurice Sartre, Catherine Porter and Elizabeth Rawlings (2005) ISBN 0674016831 p. 293
^Cite error: The named reference voorst53 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
MarabarSerapion (Classical Syriac: ܡܪܐ ܒܪ ܣܪܦܝܘܢ), or "Mara son of Serapion", was a Syriac Stoic philosopher in the Roman province of Syria. He is only...
MarabarSerapion was a Stoic philosopher from the Roman province of Syria. He is noted for a letter he wrote in Aramaic to his son, who was named Serapion...
non-Christian reference to the crucifixion of Jesus is likely to be MaraBar-Serapion's letter to his son, written some time after AD 73 but before the 3rd...
that body. Mara (son of Sarapion) was a Stoic philosopher from the Roman province of Syria. Sometime between 73 AD and the 3rd century, Mara wrote a letter...
positively to Jesus and that is MarabarSerapion, a Syriac Stoic, who wrote a letter to his son, who was also named Serapion, from a Roman prison. He speaks...
Medicine (in Arabic) MarabarSerapion, Syrian stoic Yahya ibn Sarafyun (9th century), also known as Serapion the Elder or Johannes Serapion, Christian physician...
on Jesus Pliny the Younger on Christians Suetonius on Christians MarabarSerapion on Jesus P. E. Easterling, E. J. Kenney (general editors), The Cambridge...
a book from the New Testament apocrypha, allegedly written in Greek by Serapion, Bishop of Thmuis in 390 AD. The text is an expanded biography of the biblical...
ossuaries, six inscribed with epigraphs, including one interpreted as "Yeshua bar Yehosef" ("Jeshua, son of Joseph"), although the inscription is partially...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
people a choice between Jesus and a murderer called Barabbas (בר-אבא or Bar-abbâ, "son of the father", from the common given name Abba: 'father'). Persuaded...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
Historicity of Jesus Historical Jesus Josephus on Jesus Lucian on Jesus MaraBar-Serapion Boman (2012) states that there are many different spellings of this...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
would occupy the area by 73 AD. A 1st-century letter in Syriac by MaraBarSerapion describes refugees fleeing the Romans across the Euphrates and bemoans...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
the 1st century Historicity of Jesus History of early Christianity MarabarSerapion on Jesus Roman Judaea Sources for the historicity of Jesus Tacitus...
to heaven. Peter then has a resurrection, similar to the other books. Serapion of Antioch urged the exclusion of the Gospel of Peter from the Church because...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
references. An important testimony of early Syriac is the letter of MarabarSerapion, possibly written in the late 1st century (but extant in a 6th- or...
Leipzig, 1922), 89, rightly supposed, the often quoted passage b. Sanh. 43a (Bar.): 'on the day of preparation Jeshu was hanged' does not refer to Jesus but...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
Historical Jesus Quest for the historical Jesus Sources Josephus Tacitus MarabarSerapion Gospels Christ myth theory Depictions Bibliography Christ Child Life...
Global Information