Scripture Personified: Torah as Character in the Hymns of Marqah

Samaritans and Jews in Late Antiquity dramatized their sacred canon, personified it, and composed lyrics to express their devotion to it. In both traditions Scripture was understood as possessing properties of agency. It was not merely a document symbolizing the covenant between God and Israel, but God's primary creation, possessing the ability to act, mediate and engage both deity and people. Scripture became a character in the ongoing story of God and God's people. Neither Samaritan nor Jewish traditions developed a Logos theology in which divine Word becomes divine Person incarnate, as is the case in Christianity, but in writings from both communities we see the divine Word personified both conceptually and performatively. This study focuses on four liturgical poems by the 4th-century Samaritan hymnographer Marqah, considered within the context of a larger cohort of Late Ancient liturgical poets who were fascinated by the Torah.