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Document Details : Title: Reflections on the 'sons and daughters of the covenant' in the Armenian sources Author(s): SHIRINIAN, M.E. Journal: Revue des Études Arméniennes Volume: 28 Date: 2001-2002 Pages: 261-285 DOI: 10.2143/REA.28.0.505083 Abstract : In Armenian sources (early, as well as late) the expressions “the Children of the Covenant”, “the Children of the Covenant of the Church” or “the Children of the Church” occur very often. In spite of the risk of being accused of “parallelomania” I am going to suggest that these terms are closely connected with the Syriac term bnay Q'yâmâ discussed in the nineteenth century . The controversies took place after F. C. Burkitt's observation of the meaning of this Syriac term and many investigations dedicated to this term appeared. Nonetheless, even today it cannot be claimed that we have a clear idea even of the terminological survey. As all the scholars who dealt with this topic, I make no claim or pretence to fill this gap, especially taking into account a lack of experience in Syriac studies. My only intention is to draw the attention of scholars to the similarities that all above-mentioned terms — both Syriac and Armenian — share and to allocate the Armenian material to the context of scholarly investigations concerning these questions. This will be done exclusively on the basis of the Armenian and Greek sources with occasional reference to the English translation of Aphrahat the Persian Sage. |
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