Overview
About this work
Not Because a Fox Barks is one of St Shenoute’s best-known Discourses. It takes its modern title from its striking opening image: Shenoute compares his opponent to a barking fox and himself, as Christ’s servant, to a lion. From there he defends his actions against pagan worship and turns to a broader Christian indictment of injustice. The discourse joins fierce polemic with pastoral concern, insisting that loyalty to Christ must be shown in worship, mercy, truth, and the protection of people who are being oppressed.
Setting
Historical context
Shenoute addresses a wealthy and politically influential landowner whom modern scholarship identifies with Flavius Aelius Gessius, known in Coptic as Gesios. Coptic SCRIPTORIUM places the work in Volume Four of Shenoute’s Discourses, and modern editors group it with several texts concerning this conflict. The dispute is both religious and social: Shenoute accuses his opponent of pagan practices, hostility toward Christians, and abuse of poorer dependents. The surviving Coptic used here is transmitted in manuscript MONB.XH and represented through the Chassinat-based Coptic SCRIPTORIUM edition.
Structure
Contents
The discourse begins with Shenoute rejecting his opponent’s threats and declaring confidence in Christ. He recalls removing idols, condemns attempts to prevent offerings to the Church and poor, and answers accusations about his actions against pagan worship. The largest part then catalogs abuses inflicted on villagers: seizure of animals and goods, forced labor, excessive charges, interference with Pascha, and burdens imposed even during danger and flight. In the closing chapters, Shenoute turns from accusation to prayer, asking God to free the oppressed as He once freed Israel so that they may serve, bless, and worship Him freely.
Text & source details
Editions
- Edition
- Original Sahidic Coptic
- Reader label
- Sahidic Coptic
- Publication
- Émile Chassinat, Le Quatrième Livre des Entretiens et Épîtres de Shenouti (Cairo, 1911), pp. 38–50; diplomatic digital representation by Coptic SCRIPTORIUM v6.0.0.
- Date
- 1911 / digital v6.0.0 (2024)
- Rights
- The 1911 Chassinat source edition is public domain where applicable. The Coptic SCRIPTORIUM digital edition and annotations are licensed CC BY 4.0.
- Edition
- Voices of the Fathers Modern English
- Reader label
- Modern English — VOTF
- Translator
- Voices of the Fathers editorial project
- Publication
- Voices of the Fathers
- Date
- 2026
- Rights
- Voices of the Fathers Modern English is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), to the extent copyright and related rights subsist in the translation and associated editorial material. Commercial reuse requires separate permission from Voices of the Fathers. The underlying ancient text and identified public-domain source editions retain their respective status.
- Edition
- Amir Zeldes (Coptic SCRIPTORIUM)
- Reader label
- English — Zeldes (2024 (v6.0.0))
- Translator
- Amir Zeldes
- Publication
- Coptic SCRIPTORIUM, shenoute.fox, document urn:cts:copticLit:shenoute.fox.monbxh_204_216, v6.0.0.
- Date
- 2024 (v6.0.0)
- Rights
- CC BY 4.0.
Text and edition sources
Émile Chassinat, Le Quatrième Livre des Entretiens et Épîtres de Shenouti (Cairo: Imprimerie de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale, 1911), pp. 38–50.
Applies to: Sahidic Coptic Public-domain historical edition where applicable. Source websiteNot Because a Fox Barks, Voices of the Fathers Modern English, Voices of the Fathers, 2026, CC BY-NC 4.0.
Applies to: Modern English — VOTF Voices of the Fathers Modern English is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), to the extent copyright and related rights subsist in the translation and associated editorial material. Commercial reuse requires separate permission from Voices of the Fathers. The underlying ancient text and identified public-domain source editions retain their respective status. Source websiteDavid Brakke and Andrew Crislip, Selected Discourses of Shenoute the Great (Cambridge University Press, 2015), Introduction.
Source websiteCoptic Synaxarium, 7 Abib, Departure of St Shenouda (Shenoute), the Archimandrite.
Source websiteLexical and concordance sources
Shenoute, Not Because a Fox Barks, ed. Coptic SCRIPTORIUM annotators, urn:cts:copticLit:shenoute.fox.monbxh_204_216, v6.0.0 (2024-10-31), based on Émile Chassinat, Le Quatrième Livre des Entretiens et Épîtres de Shenouti (1911), pp. 38–50.
Applies to: Sahidic Coptic CC BY 4.0 for the Coptic SCRIPTORIUM digital edition/annotations. Source websiteShenoute, Not Because a Fox Barks, trans. Amir Zeldes, Coptic SCRIPTORIUM, urn:cts:copticLit:shenoute.fox.monbxh_204_216, v6.0.0 (2024-10-31).
Applies to: English — Zeldes (2024 (v6.0.0)) CC BY 4.0. Source websiteComprehensive Coptic Lexicon: Including Loanwords from Ancient Greek, v1.2 (2020), KELLIA / Coptic Dictionary Online.
CC BY-SA 4.0 for the CCL TEI resource. Source websiteOverview research
Coptic SCRIPTORIUM, Frequently Asked Questions, “What is Not Because a Fox Barks?”
Source websiteDavid Brakke and Andrew Crislip, eds. and trans., Selected Discourses of Shenoute the Great: Community, Theology, and Social Conflict in Late Antique Egypt (Cambridge University Press, 2015), Part IV, ch. 18, “Not because a fox barks,” pp. 201–205.
Source website