Copyright ©2011 by Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
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A Greek collection of ethical sayings dating from the 2nd cent., and probably
of Christian authorship (though this has been disputed); Sextus, to whom the
original collection of 451 sayings is attributed, is otherwise unknown. The
sayings already enjoyed great popularity in Origen’s day and were
subsequently translated into Latin, Syriac, and Armenian. In the Syriac
translation, preserved in a considerable number of mss. from the 6th cent.
onwards, the Sextus is wrongly identified as ‘Xystos, bp. of Rome’ (Qolo Suryoyo 129–32
(2001–2).