Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 10 December 2020 © Claremont Graduate University 1 BOHEM AND PARALLAX Ramez Mikhail Keywords: Coptic Church-Liturgy; Coptic music; Greek language; Hagiography; Hymns; Liturgies; Manuscripts. One of several genres of Bohairic hymnography, with examples for many ecclesiastical feasts. The bōhem (ⲃⲱϩⲉⲙ) consists of one or two stanzas, which can be in the ADAM or Batos style, and which serve as a prelude or introduction for the subject of the hymn. The bōhem is usually followed by several stanzas (ca. 2–10 in the manuscripts) labeled the parallax or paralex (ⲡⲁⲣⲁⲗⲉⲝ), which expand upon the theme of the hymn and typically conclude with an intercessory stanza. This combination of bōhem/parallax is one of the integral types of hymns in the Bohairic tradition and is particularly used on FEASTS of Christ (See FEASTS, MAJOR and FEASTS, MINOR) and commemorations of saints (see SAINTS, COPTIC) throughout the liturgical year, along with other hymn types such as the DOXOLOGY, DIFNAR, and the ṭarḥ. The Bohairic term bōhem is sometimes rendered by the Arabic laḥn ( ﻟ ﺤ ﻦ), or the Arabized form wāhim ( و ا ھ ﻢ), both of which can be rendered simply as hymn (Graf 1964: 117). The Bohairic form bōhem (ⲃⲱϩⲉⲙ) is equivalent to Sahidic ouōhm (ⲟⲩⲱϩⲙ) meaning an answer, objection, or interpretation, but also used in a technical sense to mean a hymn, especially a RESPONSORY connected to a previous liturgical unit, such as a prayer or scriptural reading. A bōhem is intended to be sung in an alternating fashion between a soloist and the choir or congregation (Crum 1939: 509-10; Youssef/Zanetti 2014: 43; Junker 1977: 25). In this latter sense, it evokes the Latin responsorium, though unlike the latter, it does not usually include a refrain (Leclercq 1948: 2389- 93). Rather, the Bohairic bōhem usually consists of one – or rarely more – stanzas of four strophes each in the manner of most other genres of Bohairic hymnography, though exceptions exist for all the above. For example, some bōhem examples consist of stanzas of more than four strophes, while others – particularly in the Resurrection period – contain refrains. Musically, bōhem chants, at least for those extant in current practice, can have a variety of musical styles including recitative, melismatic, and vocalise (Kuhn 2014: 74). While hymns for the feasts of Christ find their liturgical place within the Liturgy of the Word and specifically after the reading from Acts and later during Communion, other hymns for saints and martyrs also feature in glorification services in honor of the relevant saint, and notably in medieval sources in the RITE OF THE READING OF THE BIOGRAPHY (Ar. ط ﻘ ﺲ ﻗ ﺮ ا ء ة ا ﻟ ﺴ ﯿ ﺮ ة). The bōhem stanza(s) are usually followed by a larger set of stanzas (ca. 2-10) termed in Bohairic paralex (ⲡⲁⲣⲁⲗⲉⲝ), and consistently Arabized phonetically as is, baralaks ( ﺑ ﺮ ﻟ ﻜ ﺲ) with the plural baralaksāt ( ﺑ ﺮ ﻟ ﻜ ﺴ ﺎ ت). Burmester defined this term practically as the name given to the hymn following a response or laḥn, thus avoiding the etymology of the term altogether (Burmester 1967: 265). Similarly brief treatments of the term focused on its liturgical usage rather than etymology, namely that a paralexis concludes a bōhem in view of paraphrasing, generally in a different tone (Youssef/Zanetti 2014: 41; Villecourt 1923: 268). It is possible to see behind this technical term a Greek form, such as paralexis (παράλεξις) based on paralegō (παραλέγω), though the latter is used mainly with the negative connotation of speaking besides the purpose or wandering off from one’s topic, and only rarely in the sense of adding to what one has said (Liddell/Scott 1996: 1315). As such, the Bohairic ⲡⲁⲣⲁⲗⲉⲝ would have