Isaac the Syrian

Life 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. 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.

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), where he died and was buried. At the time of his death, Isho'dnah reports that he was nearly blind due to his devotion to study.

Writings

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

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.

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. 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. A revised second edition of this translation was published in 2011, with a third printing in 2020. The number and order of homilies in the First Part can vary greatly depending on the manuscript or edition.

Second Part 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.

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.

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). Chapters 1–3 have been translated into English by Brock (2022) (with Chapters 1–2 previously published in Brock (1997) as well ), while an English translation of chapters 4–41, along with the original Syriac text, can be found in Brock (1995). A complete French translation was published by André Louf (2003), and a partial Greek translation was published by Kavvadas (2006). Selections from Part 2 have been translated into Italian by Bettiolo (1985) and into Catalan by Nin (2005).

List of manuscripts containing the 'Second Part': into French by André Louf (2009), and into Italian by Sabino Chialà (2004, 2011). 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. 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. 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. 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." 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."

In Isaac's 'First Part' some have also seen evidence for universalist sympathies, as illustrated by the following: "God will not abandon anyone." "There was a time when sin did not exist, and there will be a time when it will not exist." "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." Other passages throughout the corpus of Isaac's writings have been cited in demonstration of his belief in eventual universal salvation.

Veneration and legacy Isaac is widely regarded as a saint in several Christian traditions, including the Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Roman Catholic Church. His feast day is observed in many Eastern Christian calendars on January 28, often together with the feast of the 4th-century theologian and hymnographer Ephrem the Syrian, reflecting long-standing liturgical commemoration across different churches. In the Syriac Orthodox tradition, his feast is celebrated on May 14.

In November 2024, Pope Francis announced the inclusion of Isaac of Nineveh in the Roman Martyrology, the official liturgical list of saints venerated by the Latin Church, following discussions with ecclesiastical leaders of the Assyrian Church of the East. This decision was explained as a recognition of his enduring spiritual legacy and of holiness extending beyond historical ecclesial divisions.

Isaac’s writings, particularly his ascetical and mystical discourses emphasizing prayer, divine mercy, and inner stillness, have had a lasting impact on Christian monasticism. These writings remain popular in monastic communities such as those on Mount Athos, and have influenced later revivals of monastic life, including within the Coptic Orthodox Church in the late 20th century.

Translations +Part of Isaac's writingsDetails of translationTranslation languageNotesFirst Part, entire textMystic Treatises by Isaac of Nineveh, ed. by A. J. Wensinck, 1923 (reprinted Gorgias Press, 2011)EnglishMade from the original Syriac textFirst Part, entire textThe Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, ed. by Dana Miller, Rev. 2nd ed (The Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2020)EnglishMade primarily from the ancient Greek translationSecond Part, Chapters 1-3Saint 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).EnglishSecond Part, Chapters 4-41Isaac 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)EnglishThird Part, entire textIsaac the Syrian’s Spiritual Works, ed. by Mary Hansbury (Gorgias Press, 2016).English