**Reference**: Brzozowska, Leszka, Michael Synkellos and His Lost Refutation of Islam, p. 140

**Relevant Passage For Comparison**: Sūrat al-Māidah, 5:116

"And \[beware the Day\] when Allah will say, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah?’” ***He*** \[Jesus\] ***will say, “Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right***."

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*Nomocanon in Fourteen Titles,* \[MS Sin. 227, fol. 274r\] (pre-927)

". . . абие же Ис ҃соу прѣдъстати. и ѿврѣщисѧ прѣдъ Бм҃ь, яко не нарече себе сн҃а Бж҃ия"

Rough Translation:

". . .But Jesus stood before God, saying that **he did not call himself the Son of God.**"

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Georgios Monacho's *Chronicle,* \[MS 310.1289, fol. 316r\] (10th – 11th century)

". . .абие же Їссоу предстоати и ѿврещисѧ пред Бгм҃ъ, яко не гл҃ахъ себе соуща сн҃а Бж҃иа"

Rough Translation:

". . .But Jesus **stood up and cried out** before God, saying that **he did not call himself the Son of God**."

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*Nomocanon of Saint Sava*, \[MS III c. 9, fol. 373b\] (After 1219)

". . .потом же Їс ҃ви прѣдьстати рече и ѿмѣтати се прѣдь Бм҃ь, яко не нареч се сн҃ь Бж҃и"

Rough Translation:

". . .Then Jesus stood **before Him and cried out**, saying, "I am not worthy to be called **the Son of God.**"

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Georgios Monacho's *Chronicle,* \[MS Sin. 148, fol. 317r\] (14th century)

". . .абиѥ же Іс ҃оу прѣдстати и ѿврѣщисе прѣдь Бм҃ь яко не гл҃ахь себе быти Хс а Бж҃ия"

Rough Translation:

". . .But Jesus **stood up and cried out before God**, saying that he did not consider himself to **be the Son of God**."  
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A quick comment but it has become more increasingly more concerning to me that researchers might be overcomplicating the background of Q 5:116, by overvaluing theological burdens that may not have truly an impressionable impact in the formulation of Q 5:116. My brief survey of early 8th-10th century Byantine-Christian contact with Qurʾānic christological disputation, seems to suggest an surprisingly incremented mention of Mary as *Theotokos* and the title of 'Son of God' when referring to Jesus, where it's directly stated that Muḥammad directly taught that Mary was not the Theotokos \[Mother of God\] but rather was the Sister of Aaron and Moses, as a form of counter-narrative against Mary as Theotokos (see previous post on Georgios Monacho's Chronicle) and that Jesus is not the Son of God, but His Word and Spirit, and the son of Mary. Therefore the background of Q 5:116, and more precisely, the accusation of the illicit deification of Mary and Jesus as 'deities besides Allāh' could be grounded on two stringent premises:

1) Mary is The Mother of God \[Theotokos\] (conceptualized by the author of Q 5:116 to be deified besides Allāh as His partner/consort, which is directly rebutted in Q 17:111, Q 25:2, Q 72:3, Q 6:101, and adduces the counter-title/designation of 'Sister of Aaron and Moses' ).

2) Jesus is The Son of God (conceptualized by the author of Q 5:116 to be deified besides Allāh as His son, which is rigorously and ubiquitously rebutted in several passages across the Qurʾān: Q 19:35, 17:111, 4:171, 5:116, 6:101, 9:30, 18:4, 19:88-92, 23:91, 25:2, 72:3, 112:3, 43:81, 39:4, and adduces the counter-title/designation of 'Son of Mary' as opposed to Son of God).

It could really just be this simple. And given the incrementing corpus of pre-Islamic epigraphic data that seem to somewhat deconstruct the rampant pagan idolatry and worship of pre-Islamic Arabia, into a more henotheistic/monolatric reality, it's worth pondering, for example, whether passages that seem to object to claims of Allāh having a partner/companion/consort should be interpreted as a strictly Qurʾānic objection to Mary as Theotokos rather then allusive and frankly unpersuasive cues to this practice occurring in pre-Islamic Arabia under the pretense of the *mushrikūn*.

Michael Synkellos (c. 760 – 846)'s unique quotation/paraphrase(?) of Q 5:116 preserved in the third redaction of Nomocanon in Fourteen Titles translated to Bulgaria [8th – 9th century, MS Sin. 227, fol. 274r] (image also includes later redactions of Michael Synkellos's quotation of Q 5:116]