Jacob the notary

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Jacob the Notary (* around 410 in Karkâ de Adsâ (possibly Şanlıurfa ) in Mesopotamia , then part of the Sassanid Empire ; † around 430 in Slik charôbtâ (probably a ruin site at that time) near Seleukia-Ctesiphon in Persia, near today's Baghdad in Iraq ), Syrian ܝܥܩܘܒ ܢܘܛܪܐ , transliterated Yaʾqōḇ nōṭārā or Yaʿqōb Noṭaro , English Jacob the notary or James the notary , French Jacques le notaire , was a Christian martyr .

Lore

The tradition concerning Jacob is essentially given through his martyrs files, which were written by the monk Abgar in a monastery near Ctesiphon around the middle of the fifth century; This article uses the translation given below by Oskar Braun, which is based on the Paul Bedjan collection , which contains an edited version of the file. Abgar's files form a cycle of four saints' vites , namely the most famous report on Narsai , also on Tataq , the ten martyrs of Beth Garmai and finally on Jacob the notary.

Since the files are hagiographic writings, not every detail from them can be accepted as historical truth; there are also legendary motifs and propagandistic exaggerations. The simplifying equation of Zoroastrianism with the worship of the sun and fire should also be viewed against this background .

In fact, Abgar seems to be trying to drive a wedge between the divinely legitimized state power and the Magi, who represented Zoroastrianism and advised the Shah. The Jacob's act that concludes the cycle is the vita written by Abgar in which this contrast is most evident. Jakob Bahram V says in the final interrogation scene that his predecessor Yazdegerd I ruled in peace for 22 years, but his life ended when he became a persecutor of Christians , while the Zoroastrian tradition opposed the death of this king due to a sin brings back Zoroastrianism. The files of Tataq also know the motive that the divine legitimation of royal rule ends when the Christians are persecuted. So Abgar depicts that Yazdegerd had received a conditional authority from God, which he forfeited when he followed the advice of the Magi, so that he was punished by God.

Jacob's life story is often mixed up with the story of Jacob the Cut , who also suffered martyrdom in Persia around the same time (probably on November 27, 420). It is possible that Jakob the Cut was a purely fictional character, whose life story was developed from the torture scene with the "ninefold death" (see below) in the notary's files. There are also similarities between the sufferings of Jacob the Cut and those of Peroz.

The exact description of the individual parts of the body and the blood contained therein suggests that the cult of relics was already well developed when Jacob's martyrs 'acts were compiled, and that various places were already claiming to be in possession of saints' relics. Presumably all the places that were supposedly in possession of relics of the martyrs, whose files come from Abgar, were connected with his monastery. These texts also provide an insight into the process of collecting relics and the associated dissemination of the corresponding legend of the saints. Jacob's mother is compared to Shamune (the name is not biblically guaranteed), the mother of the Maccabees martyrs (see 2 Macc 7 : 1-42  EU and the drastic description in the 4th Book of the Maccabees ).

Life and legend

Persecution of Christians

After Christianity had been tolerated in Persia for a long time under Yazdegerd I, there was a temporary persecution of Christians at the end of his reign. Jacob was of Greco-Roman descent and notary to King Bahram V, the successor of Yazdegerd. The bishops managed to hold secret meetings at the royal court, where Jacob informed them of the king's plans regarding the Christian question and encouraged them to take courage.

Forced labor as an elephant keeper

Finally, around 430, Jacob and 15 other notaries of King Bahram V , Yazdegerd's successor, were arrested. They were asked to renounce Christianity and worship fire and sun. None of the 16 could be induced, which is why their property was confiscated. Their houses were locked and the notaries were sentenced to labor as elephant keepers over the winter .

Forced labor in road construction

In the period after the Jewish Passover , the king habitually moved to cooler regions of his empire. The prisoners were then withdrawn from the elephants and entrusted with the repair of the roads that the king wanted to use. They had to cut trees and dig up stones in the mountains over the six months of the summer half-year. The King often asked them why they chose this fate and not preferred their previous honorable position. They replied that they considered any work he would do them an honor, but would not turn away from Christianity.

Tightening of conditions

At the time of the month of Tishri , the king returned to Seleucia-Ctesiphon through the inhospitable Holwan . In Holwan, Mihrschâpûr, one of the hyparchs (military commanders), drastically increased the workload for the prisoners: He warned the king that their steadfastness could prevent others from turning their backs on Christianity. Bahram informed the hyparch of the measures that had already been taken against the prisoners and asked what else should be done. Mihrschâpûr then obtained permission from the king to deal with the prisoners at will, only he was not allowed to kill them.

Each prisoner was now assigned a soldier, the soldiers in turn received a commissaire as their joint superior. The prisoners were now completely stripped, their hands were tied behind their backs and they were forced to march on unpaved roads at night. They remained naked and handcuffed all the time, in the nightly cold and daily heat. Their rations, which consisted of bread and water, were reduced to a minimum.

release

After seven days, her feet were badly injured from walking barefoot, some of the prisoners were unconscious and hardly distinguishable from corpses. The hyparch asked the inspector about the condition of the prisoners and ordered him to ask them to worship the sun again. He should threaten them to have them dragged to death if they refused to obey. Those prisoners who could still be contacted agreed to comply with the request, the others, including Jakob, were no longer able to react. After the inspector had brought the prisoners' answer to Mihrschâpûr, the latter ordered the immediate release of all; They no longer had to perform the required act of worship, their willingness was sufficient. They were brought on pack animals to the king's winter quarters in Seleukia and allowed to recover.

Buses

After a few days, Jacob and the other freedmen began to repent of their sackclothes and ashes by fasting, praying and crying intensely, and spending almost all of their time in church. Jacob was finally denounced: The hyparch was informed that the notary had not agreed to the requested act of worship and that he would now submit to the aforementioned penance exercises, also that the Christians still accepted him in their community and he was constantly in read the bible.

Interrogation by Mihrschâpûr

Mihrschâpûr summoned the freedmen and questioned them, initially without Jacob. They confirmed that they had agreed to apostate from Christianity, after which they were allowed to go unmolested. When the hyparch asked Jacob whether he had agreed to the act of worship, the latter replied that he would never apostate from Christianity in one way or another. Jacob's hands were cuffed behind the back, then three men beat his neck and cheeks with fists; his neck is said to be so swollen that it pushed up over his cheeks. Again and again, Mihrschâpûr urged Jacob to deny the Christian God, who did not help him, and to worship the sun, which the king worshiped, who could save his life. Since this interrogation took place in winter, the sky was overcast. Jacob asked where the sun he should worship was. The hyparch asked the counter-question where the Christian God was. Jacob replied that God was invisible but revealed himself in his works and in the hearts of believers. Mihrschâpûr now asked Jacob to worship the fire in the container in front of them, if he could excuse himself that the sun was currently not visible. Jacob asked the hyparch to put the container in the rain. If the rain does not extinguish the fire, it is worthy of adoration; if it does extinguish it, it is only to be regarded as a creature and servant of man. When Mihrschâpûr asked not to blaspheme what the king worshiped, Jacob responded by asking the king to worship God, to whom he owed his office.

Interrogation by Bahram

Jacob was thrown in prison; the hyparch reported his behavior to the king, who now interrogated him himself. He also asked him whether he had not denied the Christian faith. Jacob replied that he would never deny his faith. The king threatened him with torture. Jacob asked for permission to speak and now allegedly tried to dissuade the king from his anti-Christian policies: He pointed out to Bahram the successful government of his father, which had lasted as long as he promoted the Christians. But when Yazdegerd went on to persecute Christians, he was shamefully killed. (Legend has it that the king went missing when a white horse suddenly appeared.) Jacob threatened Bahram with a similar end. Jacob was sentenced to death by the king in 430. The sentence was nine times the death penalty, and the king drafted a charter explaining the procedure.

"Ninefold Death"

Jakob was taken to Slik charôbtâ (presumably a ruin site near Seleukia) and again, with the offer of amnesty, asked to worship the sun. Jacob refused, he said he did not want to risk his eternal life for the temporal. So followed the "nine times execution" by cutting off different parts of the body:

1. The fingers. Jacob was asked if he was now denying. He refused.

2. The toes.

3. The hands.

4. The feet. Asked again if he wanted to deny, Jacob asked the executioners to hit the king in the face with his severed hands and the hyparch with the feet so that he would be ashamed.

5. The forearms.

6. The lower legs. Jacob reportedly showed no signs of pain and did not scream during the mutilations. He was sat down and asked to deny again. Instead, he confessed Christ.

7. The ears.

8. The nose.

9. The head with which death came.

body

His body was placed in such a way that it was supposed to be eaten by stray dogs and birds. Other Christians managed to recover their hands and feet. According to the traditional story, his body was guarded by soldiers to prevent the other parts of the body from being recovered.

However, Roman merchants managed to steal the corpse with a deceit: They first reported to some Christians who were expelled from their hometown and who were now in Seleucia, including the alleged author of the acts of martyrdom, a clergyman, of the guarding of the corpse. They asked the clergy for permission to deceive the guards by disguising themselves as the hyparch's messengers and claiming that Mihrschâpûr had placed them as overseers over the guards to prevent them from selling the body to the Christians. The clergyman found that the deception was not a sin because God knew their good intentions. Four of the merchants carried out the plan. They told the guards that the hyparch had given orders that they should only allow the birds to feed on the corpse, not the dogs. But if they threw stones at the dogs, the birds fled too.

After guarding the body for a day, the merchants gave ten drachmas to the guards, and they went into town. The merchants wrapped Jacob's head and body in linen and hid the remains in a nearby homestead.

A few days later, they took the body parts by ship along the Tigris to Jacob's hometown, where they hid them in a church estate outside the city.

Jacob's mother, who had been a widow for a long time, did not yet know of his death. She was preparing a splendid wedding for her son and was about to send a messenger to him at the royal court to have him picked up when the merchants informed her of what had happened. She is said to have enjoyed the honor of her son's martyrdom and dressed in white. Then she went to see Saumai, the bishop of her hometown of Karka, who was to host the wedding. He wondered about her unusually festive clothes, which she justified with the upcoming wedding. The bishop pointed out that Jacob had not arrived yet. Jacob's mother replied that there was even a supernatural wedding and took Saumai to see Jacob's remains. She took the clothes and fragrant oils with her that were originally intended for the wedding. They were now used for his funeral, which Saumai presided over. Jacob received an honor grave. His mother donated her fortune, which was supposed to be used for the wedding, to a hospice that served as a home for widows and poor people as well as a hospital.

Remembrance day

October 14th in the Evangelical Name Calendar .

(The Roman Catholic and Orthodox memorial day of Jacob the Cut, with whose biography Jacob the Notary is mixed up, is November 27. )

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Review of the first three volumes of the Paul Bedjans collection in the Theologische Literaturzeitung No. 1 from 1893; however, Jacob's file is in the fourth volume
  2. ↑ Jakob der Zerschnitte in the Biographical-Bibliographical Church Lexicon ( Memento from June 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Jacob the notary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES ܝܥܩܘܒ ܢܘܛܪܐ; Yaʿqōb Noṭaro; Yaʾqōḇ nōṭārā; Jacob the notary; James the notary; Jacques le notaire
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Christian martyr in Persia
DATE OF BIRTH around 410
PLACE OF BIRTH Karkâ de Adsâ, Mesopotamia , Sassanid Empire
DATE OF DEATH at 430
Place of death Slik charôbtâ near Seleukia-Ctesiphon , Sassanid Empire