[1] He is praised by the contemporary hagiographer Giorgi Merchule as a writer in The Life of Grigol of Khandzta, but beyond a translation of a commentary to the Psalms, the Passion of Gobron is his only—and best known—extant work.
[2] The Passion of Gobron is a piece of original hagiography, commissioned from the author by the Georgian Bagratid prince Ashot Kukhi (died 918)[2] and relating heroic defense of the fort of Q'ueli by Christian Georgian noble Gobron and his eventual death as a martyr at the hands of the Muslim emir Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj (Abu l'Kasim) in 914.
[3][1] The Passion of Gobron opens with edifying quotations from the Book of Job and Saint Paul.
It then continues, condemning the Armenians for their "heresy", a reference to Armenia's rejection of the Council of Chalcedon.
[2][4] While describing the Muslim invasion and Gobron's defense of Q'ueli, Stepane shows a talent for epic storytelling.