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Isaac the Syrian

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This article is about Isaac of Nineveh. For the 4th century bishop of Edessa, see Isaac of Antioch.
Saint

Isaac the Syrian
Icon of Saint Isaac the Syrian
Bishop, Hieromonk, Ascetic
Bornc. 613[1]
Beth Qatraye,[1][2][3] Eastern Arabia
Diedc. 700 (age c. 87)
Nineveh, Umayyad Caliphate
Venerated in
Major shrineRabban Hormizd Monastery
FeastJanuary 28 (Byzantine Rite- Slavic usage)
September 28th (Byzantine- Greek usage)[5]
AttributesTurban, cape, scrolls, writing tools

Isḥaq of Nineveh (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܝܣܚܩ ܕܢܝܢܘܐ, romanized: mār isḥāq d-ninwē; Arabic: إسحاق النينوي Ishaq an-Naynuwī; c. 613 – c. 700), also remembered as Saint Isaac the Syrian (Ancient Greek: Ἰσαὰκ ὁ Σύρος),[6][7] Isaac of Nineveh, Abba Isaac, Isaac Syrus and Isaac of Qatar,[8] was a 7th-century Syriac Christian bishop of the Church of the East, and theologian best remembered for his written works on Christian asceticism.[9] He is regarded as a saint in the Church of the East, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches. His feast day falls, together with 4th-century theologian and hymnographer St. Ephrem the Syrian, on January 28.

Life

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Isaac was born in the region of Beth Qatraye in Eastern Arabia, a mixed Syriac- and Arabic-speaking region encompassing the south east of Mesopotamia and the north-eastern Arabian Peninsula.[1][2][3] When the Catholicos Giwargis I of the Church of the East (661–680), visited Beth Qatraye in 676 to attend a synod, he ordained Isaac bishop of Nineveh far to the north in Assyria.[10]

According to Isho'dnah's Book of Chastity, Isaac was Bishop of Nineveh only for a brief period before abdicating for an unknown reason. Isho'dnah continues that Isaac retired first to Mount Matuot in Beth Huzaye, then to the monastery of Rabban Shabur (located near Shushtar in present-day Khuzestan, Iran),[11][12][13] where he died and was buried.[14] At the time of his death, Isho'dnah reports that he was nearly blind due to his devotion to study.[15]

Writings

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Overview

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Abdisho bar Brikha claims that Isaac wrote seven volumes.[16] Isaac's known writings comprise a 'First Part', 'Second Part', and 'Third Part'.[17] Passages of a supposed 'Fifth Part' have also been discovered, but there is no academic consensus about whether they are authentic.[18] The 'First Part' alone was translated into Greek in antiquity, and from Greek into various other languages, such as Slavonic.[19][20] The 'Second Part' was rediscovered in the 1980s, and the 'Third Part' in the 1990s.[21] Isaac's writings survive in Syriac manuscripts, and in later translations into languages including Greek, Arabic, Georgian, and Sogdian.[22][23]

Isaac's main influences include Evagrius Ponticus, Pseudo-Dionysius, John the Solitary, Ephrem the Syrian, Narsai, and Theodore of Mopsuestia. In turn, Isaac influenced later Syriac writers such as John of Dalyatha and Joseph Hazzaya.[24]

Sebastian Brock has provided a summary as of 2024 of all editions and translations of each of the three known 'Parts' of Isaac's writings.[17] Brock, Mary Hansbury, and the Holy Transfiguration Monastery have been Isaac's primary translators into English, and Sabino Chialà (it) into Italian.

First Part

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The 'First Part' is the most widely known part. Arent Jan Wensinck (nl) produced an English translation of the original Syriac text in 1923.[25] In 1983 the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Brookline published an English translation based primarily on the ancient Greek translation of the First Part, though with reference to the original Syriac text.[26] A revised second edition of this translation was published in 2011, with a third printing in 2020.[27] The number and order of homilies in the First Part can vary greatly depending on the manuscript or edition.[28]

Second Part

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The 'Second Part' contains 41 chapters, of which Chapter 3 is by far the longest. Chapter 3, also known as the 'Headings on Spiritual Knowledge', contains roughly 400 chapters of various lengths, arranged in four centuries.[29] Recently, parts of these headings (i.e., Chapter 3 of the 'Second Part') have been identified in Sogdian fragments from Turfan.[30][31]

The Second Part was discovered in April 1983 at the Bodleian Library by Sebastian Brock, who found that MS syr. e. 7, originally donated by the Assyrian priest Yaroo Michael Neesan (1853–1937) to the Bodleian Library on 29 June 1898, in fact contained writings of Isaac the Syrian that were hitherto unknown to Western scholars, even though they were regularly read by Syriac readers.[32] Bodleian MS syr. e. 7 is a parchment manuscript written in small East Syrian Estrangela script and is 195–200 mm long by 145–150 mm wide with 190 folios. There are about 26 lines per page, with about 23 lines near the beginning. It was copied during the 10th or 11th century in the Monastery of Mar ‘Abdisho‘ of Kom by the scribe Marqos for Rabban Isho‘ of the village of Beth B‘DY.[33]

After 1983, incomplete manuscripts of Part 2 have been discovered in Cambridge MS Or. 1144, which is a part of Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS syr. 298 (c. 11th-13th century).[34] Chapters 1–3 have been translated into English by Brock (2022)[29] (with Chapters 1–2 previously published in Brock (1997) as well[35]), while an English translation of chapters 4–41, along with the original Syriac text, can be found in Brock (1995).[32] A complete French translation was published by André Louf (2003),[36] and a partial Greek translation was published by Kavvadas (2006).[37] Selections from Part 2 have been translated into Italian by Bettiolo (1985)[38] and into Catalan by Nin (2005).[39]

List of manuscripts containing the 'Second Part':[32]

  • Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS syr. e.7 (10th/11th century) (complete manuscript)
    • Tehran, Mar Issayi Collection, MS 4 (copied from MS syr. e.7) (1895)
  • Paris MS syr. 298 (11th/12th century)
  • Harvard University, Houghton Library, MS syr. 57 (13th/14th century)
  • Baghdad, Chaldean Monastery, MS syr. 680 (olim Alqosh 237) (for chs. 7, 9, 15.1-6, 11, 18.18-22, 32, 34–36) (1288/9)
    • Mingana syr. 601 (copied from Baghdad MS syr. 680) (1932)
  • Mingana syr. 86 (for chs. 24.11-13, 20.25, 25) (c. 1300)
  • British Library, Add. 14632 (for chs. 16–17) (10th century)
  • British Library, Add. 14633 (for chs. 16–17) (c. 11th century)
  • Tehran, Mar Issayi Collection, MS 5 (for ch. 25) (1900)
  • Paul Bedjan's edition of ch. 54-55 of Part I (= chs. 16-17 of Part II) (based on ms of 1235)
  • Paul Bedjan's edition of lost Urmiah manuscript (for chs. 5.5,22-26,29-30; and ch. 11); the original manuscript is presumed to have been lost during World War I, although Bedjan's transcription has been published.

Third Part

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The 'Third Part' has been translated into English by Mary Hansbury (2016),[40] into French by André Louf (2009),[41] and into Italian by Sabino Chialà (2004, 2011).[42][43][44] It is based on Issayi MS 5, held in Tehran, Iran. The manuscript is a 1903 copy of a 14th-century original manuscript that has now been lost. It was discovered by Monsignor Yuhannan Samaan Issayi, the Chaldean archbishop of Tehran, at an antiquarian Jewish bookshop and was kept in his private library. After his death in 1999, Belgian scholar Michel van Esbroek found the manuscript in Issayi's library in Tehran and announced its discovery to the international scholars.[45] Issayi MS 5 has 133 folios, with 111 folios containing 17 homilies that can be attributed to Isaac. There are 14 homilies not found in other texts that are numbered as 1–13 and 16 within Part 3. The other three texts in Issayi MS 5 can also be found in extant Part 1 and Part 2 manuscripts.[40]

Fifth Part

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Portions of the 'Fifth Part'[46] have been discovered in MS Rahmani 80 (in Sharfet), MS Dawra sir. 694 and MS Dawra sir. 938 (both held in Baghdad), and Vatican MS sir. 592. Hansbury (2016) contains English translations of two discourses from the Fifth Part.[40] Other discourses from Part 5 can be found in Hansbury (2015).[47]

Views on universal reconciliation

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Scholars have noted that Isaac advocates strongly for universal salvation in the 'Second Part'.[48][49][50] In Chapter 39 of the 'Second Part', Isaac writes, "It is not the way of the compassionate Maker to create rational beings in order to deliver them over mercilessly to unending affliction in punishment for things of which He knew even before they were fashioned, aware how they would turn out when He created them, and whom nonetheless He created."[51] Likewise, in Chapter 5 of the 'Third Part', Isaac explains, "This is the mystery: that all creation by means of One, has been brought near to God in a mystery; then it is transmitted to all; thus all is united to Him...This action was performed for all of creation; there will, indeed, be a time when no part will fall short of the whole."[52]

In Isaac's 'First Part' some have also seen evidence for universalist sympathies, as illustrated by the following: "God will not abandon anyone."[53] "There was a time when sin did not exist, and there will be a time when it will not exist."[54] "As a handful of sand thrown into the ocean, so are the sins of all flesh as compared with the mind of God; as a fountain that flows abundantly is not dammed by a handful of earth, so the compassion of the Creator is not overcome by the wickedness of the creatures... If He is compassionate here, we believe that there will be no change in Him; far be it from us that we should wickedly think that God could not possibly be compassionate; God's properties are not liable to variations as those of mortals... What is hell as compared with the grace of resurrection? Come and let us wonder at the grace of our Creator."[55] Other passages throughout the corpus of Isaac's writings have been cited in demonstration of his belief in eventual universal salvation.[56]

Veneration

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Isaac has long been regarded as a saint in his own church and in the Eastern Orthodox churches.[57] In some Eastern Orthodox traditions, his feast day falls on 28th January, together with 4th-century theologian and hymnographer St. Ephrem the Syrian.

Pope Francis announced on 9 November 2024 that Isaac of Nineveh was to be added to the Roman Martyrology, the official list of saints venerated by the Latin Church.[4]

Translations

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Part of Isaac's writings Details of translation Translation language Notes
First Part, entire text Mystic Treatises by Isaac of Nineveh, ed. by A. J. Wensinck, 1923 (reprinted Gorgias Press, 2011) English Made from the original Syriac text
First Part, entire text The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, ed. by Dana Miller, Rev. 2nd ed (The Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2020) English Made primarily from the ancient Greek translation
Second Part, Chapters 1-3 Saint Isaac of Nineveh: Headings on Spiritual Knowledge (The Second Part, Chapters 1-3), ed. by Sebastian P. Brock, Popular Patristics, 63 (Saint Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2022). English
Second Part, Chapters 4-41 Isaac of Nineveh (Isaac the Syrian): ‘The Second Part’, Chapters IV-XLI, ed. by Sebastian P. Brock, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium: Scriptores Syri, 224–225 (Peeters, 1995) English
Third Part, entire text Isaac the Syrian’s Spiritual Works, ed. by Mary Hansbury (Gorgias Press, 2016). English

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Markose, Biji (2004). Prayers and Fasts According to Bar Ebroyo (AD 1225/6-1286): A Study on the Prayers and Fasts of the Oriental Churches. LIT Verlag. p. 32. ISBN 9783825867959.
  2. ^ a b Kurian, George (2010). The Encyclopedia of Christian Literature, Volume 2. Scarecrow Press. p. 385. ISBN 978-0810869875.
  3. ^ a b Johnston, William M. (2000). Encyclopedia of Monasticism: A-L. Taylor & Francis. p. 665. ISBN 1579580904.
  4. ^ a b "Audience with His Holiness Mar Awa III, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, and of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, 09.11.2024" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 9 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  5. ^ "St. Isaac the Syrian".
  6. ^ Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἰσαὰκ ὁ Σύρος Ἐπίσκοπος Νινευΐ. 28 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
  7. ^ St Isaac the Syrian the Bishop of Nineveh. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
  8. ^ Fromherz, Allen (2012). Qatar: A Modern History. I. B. Tauris. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-58901-910-2.
  9. ^ Brock, Sebastian P. "Ishaq of Nineveh". Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage.
  10. ^ Kozah, Mario; Abu-Husayn, Abdulrahim; Al-Murikhi, Saif Shaheen; Al-Thani, Haya (2014). The Syriac Writers of Qatar in the Seventh Century (print ed.). Gorgias Press LLC. p. 263. ISBN 978-1463203559.
  11. ^ Jullien, Florence (2024-10-21). "Rabban Šāpur". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-07-05.
  12. ^ "Rabban Shabur". Syriaca.org. 2014-01-14. Retrieved 2025-07-05.
  13. ^ "Shemʿon d-Ṭaybutheh". Beth Mardutho, The Syriac Institute/Gorgias Press. Retrieved 2025-07-05.
  14. ^ Duca, Valentina (2022). 'Exploring Finitude' Weakness and Integrity in Isaac of Nineveh. Peeters Publishers. p. 3. doi:10.2307/jj.6988023. ISBN 978-90-429-4259-2.
  15. ^ Isho'dnah (1896) [ca. 860]. Le livre de la chasteté. Translated by Chabot, Jean-Baptiste. Rome: École française de Rome. pp. 53–54.
  16. ^ Stadel, Seth M. (2025). The Catalogue of Books of ʿAbdishoʿ bar Brikha. Brill. p. 145.
  17. ^ a b Brock, Sebastian (2024). The Prayers of Saint Isaac of Nineveh: Translated with an Introduction by Sebastian Brock. SLG Press. pp. 59–61.
  18. ^ Chialà, Sabino (2014). "'Two Discourses of the "Fifth Part" of Isaac the Syrian's Writings: Prolegomena for Apokatastasis?'". In Kozah, Mario (ed.). The Syriac Writers of Qatar in the Seventh Century. Gorgias Press. pp. 123–132.
  19. ^ Brock, Sebastian. "'From Qatar to Tokyo, By Way of Mar Saba: The Translations of Isaac of Beth Qatraye (Isaac the Syrian)'". Aram. 11–12: 475-484.
  20. ^ "Commentary on Song of Songs; Letter on the Soul; Letter on Ascesis and the Monastic Life". World Digital Library. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  21. ^ Brock, Sebastian, ed. (2022). Saint Isaac of Nineveh: Headings on Spiritual Knowledge (The Second Part, Chapters 1-3). Saint Vladimir's Seminary Press. pp. 11–12.
  22. ^ Brock, Sebastian (2001). "Syriac into Greek at Mar Saba: The Translation of St. Isaac the Syrian". In Patrich, Joseph (ed.). The Sabaite Heritage in the Orthodox Church from the Fifth Century to the Present. Louvain: Peeters. pp. 201–208. ISBN 9042909765.
  23. ^ Pirtea, Adrian (2019-12-19), Toca, Madalina; Batovici, Dan (eds.), "St. Isaac of Nineveh's Gnostic Chapters in Sogdian: The Identification of an Anonymous Text from Bulayïq (Turfan)", Caught in Translation: Studies on Versions of Late-Antique Christian Literature, BRILL, pp. 85–103, doi:10.1163/9789004417182_006, ISBN 978-90-04-41718-2, retrieved 2025-12-13
  24. ^ Scully, Jason (2017). Isaac of Nineveh's Ascetical Eschatology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-880358-4.
  25. ^ Wensinck, A. J. (November 2011). Mystic Treatises by Isaac of Nineveh. Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-61719-502-0.
  26. ^ The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian. Holy Transfiguration Monastery. 1984. ISBN 9780913026557.
  27. ^ Holy Transfiguration Monastery (2020). The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian (Revised 2nd ed.). Brookline, Massachusetts: Holy Transfiguration Monastery Publications. ISBN 9780943405162.
  28. ^ Brock, Sebastian P. (2006). The Wisdom of St. Isaac of Nineveh. Piscataway: Gorgias Press. p. viii. ISBN 1-59333-335-8.
  29. ^ a b Headings on Spiritual Knowledge: the Second Part, Chapters 1-3. Translated by Brock, Sebastian. St Vladimir's Seminary Press. 2022. ISBN 978-0-88141-702-9.
  30. ^ Pirtea, Adrian (2019). "Isaac of Nineveh, Gnostic Chapters," in Nicholas Sims-Williams, From Liturgy to Pharmacology: Christian Sogdian Texts from the Turfan Collection. Berliner Turfantexte 45. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 117-44. (K4.39 mid to 46 beginning; parts of ch. 1.84-85, K1.16, 19)
  31. ^ Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2017). An Ascetic Miscellany: The Christian Sogdian Manuscript E28. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 19-43.
  32. ^ a b c Brock, Sebastian (translator). 1995. Isaac of Nineveh (Isaac the Syrian): The Second Part, Chapters 4–41. ISBN 9789068317091.
  33. ^ "Bodleian Library MS. Syriac e. 7". Digital Bodleian. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  34. ^ Kessel, Grigory (2013). New Manuscript Witnesses to the ‘Second Part’ of Isaac of Nineveh. Studia Patristica LXIV, 245-257. Leuven: Peeters.
  35. ^ Brock, Sebastian P. (1997). "St Isaac the Syrian, Two Unpublished Texts." Sobornost/Eastern Christian Review 19 (1997): 7-33.
  36. ^ Louf, André. (2003). Œuvres spirituelles, II. 41 Discours récemment découverts. Spiritualité Orientale 81. Bégrolles-en-Mauges: Abbaye de Bellefontaine.
  37. ^ Kavvadas, Nestor (trans.). (2005-6). Isaak tou Syrou: Asketika. Tomos B1: 1-3; B2: 3-11; B3: 12-41. Thēra: Thesbitēs.
  38. ^ Bettiolo, Paolo (trans.). Isacco di Ninive. Discorsi spirituali e altri opuscoli. Magnano: Qiqajon, 1985; 2nd edition, 1990. [Chapters 1-5, 32, 35, and 39]
  39. ^ Nin, Manel (2005). Isaac de Ninive, Centuries sobre el coneixement. Barcelona: Proa. [Chapters 1-5]
  40. ^ a b c Hansbury, Mary T. (2016). Isaac the Syrian's Spiritual Works. Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-4632-0593-5.
  41. ^ Louf, André (2009). Œuvres spirituelles, III: D’après un manuscrit récemment découvert. Spiritualité orientale 88. Bégrolles-en-Mauges: Abbaye de Bellefontaine.
  42. ^ Chialà, Sabino (trans.) (2004). Isacco di Ninive: Discorsi ascetici: terza collezione. Magnano: Comunità di Bose.
  43. ^ Chialà, Sabino (ed.) (2011a). Isacco di Ninive: Terza Collezione. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 637; Scriptores Syri 246. Leuven: Peeters.
  44. ^ Chialà, Sabino (trans.) (2011b). Isacco di Ninive: Terza Collezione. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 638; Scriptores Syri 247. Leuven: Peeters.
  45. ^ Mayes, Andrew D. (2021-07-20). Diving for Pearls. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. ISBN 978-0-87907-563-7.
  46. ^ Chialà, Sabino (2013). "Due discorsi ritrovati della Quinta parte di Isacco di Ninive?" Orientalia Christiana Periodica 79, 61–112.
  47. ^ Hansbury, Mary T. (2015). "Isaac the Syrian: the Fifth Part". Pp. 441–70 in: An Anthology of Syriac Writers from Qatar in the Seventh Century. Edited by Mario Kozah, Abdulrahim Abu-Husayn, Saif Shaheen Al-Murikhi, et al. Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies 39. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press.
  48. ^ Ramelli, Ilaria (2013). The Christian doctrine of Apokatastasis: a critical assessment from the New Testament to Eriugena. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. pp. 759 ff. ISBN 978-90-04-24509-9.
  49. ^ Hagman, Patrik (2010). The Asceticism of Isaac of Nineveh. Oxford early Christian studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 197 ff. ISBN 978-0-19-959319-4.
  50. ^ Hryniewicz, Wacław, 'Universalism of Salvation: St. Isaac the Syrian', in Die Wurzel Aller Theologie: Sentirecum Ecclesia. Festschrift Zum 60. Geburtstag von Urs von Arx (Stämpfli, 2003), pp. 139–50.
  51. ^ The Second Part, 39.6 (Tr. Brock, p. 165)
  52. ^ Isaac, The Third Part, 5. Translated from Syriac by Mary T. Hansbury, Isaac the Syrian's Spiritual Works, 84.
  53. ^ The First Part, Ch. 5.
  54. ^ The First Part, Ch. 26.
  55. ^ The First Part, Ch. 50.
  56. ^ For instance, see The First Part 19, 27, 43, 65, 74; The Second Part 3.1.62, 3.2.30, 3.3.70-73, 3.3.81-82, 3.3.94, 5.29-32, 38-40; The Third Part 5.9-14, 6.59-63, 11.24-30.
  57. ^ David A Fisher. Isaac of Nineveh and Syriac Thought.

Further reading

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  • Beulay, Robert. La Lumière sans forme: Introduction à l'étude de la mystique chrétienne syro-orientale. Chevetogne: Éditions de Chevetogne, 1987. (in French)
  • Chiala, Sabino. Dall’ascesi eremitica alia Misericordta infinita: Ricerche su Isacco di Ninive e la sua fortuna. Firenze: Olschki, 2002. (in Italian) [Comprehensive bibliography of Isaac's writings on pp. 325–64.]
  • Hagman, Patrik. The Asceticism of Isaac of Nineveh. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
  • Kawadas, Nestor. Isaak von Ninive und seine Kephalaia Gnostika: Die Pneumatologie und ihr Kontext. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 128. Leiden: Brill, 2015. (in German)
  • Maroki, Sameer. Les trois étapes de la vie spirituelle chez les Pères syriaques: Jean le Solitaire, Isaac de Ninive, et Joseph Harem. Paris: Éditions L'Harmattan, 2014. (in French)
  • Scully, Jason. Isaac of Nineveh's Ascetical Eschatology. Oxford. Oxford University Press, 2017.
  • Vesa, Valentin. Doing Ecumenical Theology from a Spiritual Perspective: The Case of St Isaac of Nineveh and St Thérèse de Lisieux. Saabrucken: Brill Academic Publishing, 2016.
  • Vesa, Valentin. Knowledge and Experience in the Writings of St Isaac of Nineveh. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2018.
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