The subject of Robert Phenix's monograph is a set of twelve Syriac verse memre retelling the biblical story of Joseph in Genesis xxxvii–l. They are best known from Bedjan's edition of 1891 (L'Histoire complète de Joseph) and, it is worth saying, they are different from the memre on the same subject attributed to Narsai (also edited by Bedjan, in Liber superiorum, 1901). In most manuscripts, the memre are anonymous, or else attributed to Ephrem. Bedjan and other editors have opted for Ephrem, but Robert Phenix has reasonably shown (pp. 272–80) that his authorship is unlikely. Two manuscripts make Balai (a chorbishop and poet of the fifth century) the author, and Phenix is so far convinced that he locks the name of Balai into his title – regrettably, however, since none of the church-historical and other evidence he adduces (ch. ii) really adds much to the case, and it remains quite inconclusive.

Much of this study (chs iii–v) is taken up with the relationship between this text and other Christian and Jewish literature on Joseph. The harvest from these chapters is remarkably sparse. There are tiny exegetical points in common with other extra-biblical treatments of Joseph, for example (p. 141) that Joseph's feet were shackled when he was sold into slavery (Bedjan, 41–2; not in Genesis but cf. Ephrem's commentary). Otherwise, beyond broad themes like the harm done by envy, the memre have few affinities with any other text. It is therefore surprising to be led to the rather specific conclusion (p. 148) that the text has an Urgeschichte and a Vorlage (Phenix's words) in the form of a Jewish text written in Greek and translated into Syriac prose in the period 330–61. The Jewish part of this conclusion is plausible enough, in view of the only very slight Christian element in the memre, but in other respects the case for the existence of this source is far from made.

Chapters vi–vii analyse the rhetorical style and themes of the memre. It is perhaps not so easy to prove that these memre are ‘the earliest Syriac works composed according to the canons of Greek rhetoric’ (p. 153), but that they are anyhow sophisticated and dramatic is clear from the long passages that Phenix translates in the course of his argument.

There are infelicities in this monograph. Some further advice might have dissuaded the author from calling the memre ‘sermons’ and abbreviating them ‘SonJ’; the reader is greeted on page 1 by a complicated discussion of the manuscripts of a text that has not yet been introduced; two chapters have a section 1 but no section 2; and so on.

It is, finally, a disappointment that the author does not promise a new edition and translation of the memre, on account of the difficulties in getting together all the manuscripts. But the text is attractive, the existing editions not so bad, and the author has made a ‘first good draft English translation’ (p. 13). This has some room for correction, but with a suitable apparatus it would be valuable, and I hope that he will consider preparing it for publication.