St Ephrem’s hymn on the death of a woman

A Syriac funeral hymn credited to St Ephrem the Syrian, for a woman who has died. It asks God to comfort those who mourn her and to raise her to new life.

Picture: Jan Victors, Ruth Swearing Her Allegiance to Naomi, 1653

Plain English

There are tears in the eyes,the sound of weeping in the ears,wailing in the mouthand sadness in the heart.Comfort me, O Lord!

This day partsa woman from her home,and the house bows down and falls,its order lost.Let Your light set it in order!

This day has dressedthis house in mourningand hung its wallswith sorrow and sadness.Let Your comfort give it light!

On the day she was born, she became mortal.There was trouble in her life,and the day of her death brought mourningto all her friends.Glory to Him Who has taken her away!

In the grave that has swallowedthe dead of every generation,her body decaysand becomes nothing but dust.Let Your resurrection raise her up!

Death has come in and snatched her away.It has taken her out of her homeand laid her downin the house of the tombuntil the day she rises.

Her soul has gone away,as Your command decreed.See, she has become dust,as Your command decreed.Lord, make her live again!

Traditional wording, 1853

Tears are in the eyes,In the ears are sounds of woe,In the mouth is wailing,And sadness in the heart:—Comfort me, oh Lord!

This day separatesA woman from her house,And it bows down and falls prostrate,Having lost its order:—Let it be arranged by Thy light!

This day hath clothedThis house in mourning,And hung upon its wallsAffliction and sadness:—Let Thy consolation give it light!

In the day of her birth she became mortal;In her life there was trouble;The day of her death caused mourningTo the company of her friends:—Glory to Him Who hath taken her away!

In the grave which hath swallowed upThe dead of all generations,Her body sees corruption,And becomes but dust:—Let Thy resurrection raise her up!

Death hath entered—hath snatched her away,And put her forth from her dwelling,And in the habitation of the tombHath deposited her:—Till the day of her rising.

Her soul hath gone away,As Thy command hath decreed;Behold! she hath become dust,As Thy command hath decreed:—Lord, make her live anew!

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the English that Henry Burgess made from the Syriac in 1853, checked line by line against the Russian translation of St Ephrem’s works. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Henry Burgess, Select Metrical Hymns and Homilies of Ephraem Syrus, 1853.

When it is said

It was made to be sung at a funeral, with the last line of each verse sung in answer.

Anyone may pray it in grief for a wife, a mother or another woman they loved.

Where it comes from

Author by tradition

A Syriac funeral hymn

This is one of 85 funeral hymns printed in Syriac under St Ephrem the Syrian’s name, in the Roman edition of his works (1732 to 1743). The Syriac churches have sung his hymns at baptisms and at burials. The Anglican priest Henry Burgess put this one into English in 1853 and called it “On the Death of a Woman”.

Henry Burgess, Select Metrical Hymns and Homilies of Ephraem Syrus (1853); John Gwynn, introduction to St Ephrem, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 13 (1898)

Is it St Ephrem’s own?

St Ephrem was a deacon from Nisibis who later lived in Edessa and died in AD 373. His writings were so popular that for centuries afterwards other writers put hundreds of works under his name. Tradition credits this short hymn to him, but no one can be sure it is his own.

Wikipedia, Ephrem the Syrian

What the words mean

Why give glory to God at her death?

The fourth verse ends “Glory to Him Who has taken her away!” In fresh grief, the line can sound hard. The Latin translation of 1743 reads it as thanks that God has taken her out of a life of hardship. When Job’s children died, he said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). The next verses ask God to raise her up.

Henry Burgess, Select Metrical Hymns and Homilies of Ephraem Syrus (1853), pp. 48-49; Sancti Patris Nostri Ephraem Syri Opera omnia, Syriac and Latin vol. 3 (Rome, 1743), p. 289

Who was she?

The hymn never names her. The Syriac edition printed in Rome in 1743 sets it among the hymns for the funerals of women. A Russian translation of St Ephrem’s works, printed by the Holy Trinity-St Sergius Lavra, gives it the title “On the death of the mother of a family”.

Sancti Patris Nostri Ephraem Syri Opera omnia, Syriac and Latin vol. 3 (Rome, 1743), p. 289; Творения святого Ефрема Сирина, vol. 4, Funeral hymns (Azbyka)

The Scripture in it

“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 3:19 Echoed “She has become dust, as Your command decreed” recalls God’s word to Adam, that he would return to dust.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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