Isaac of Antioch
Encyclopedia
Isaac of Antioch, one of the stars of Syriac literature
, is the reputed author of a large number of metrical homilies (The fullest list, by Gustav Bickell
, contains 191 which are extant in MSS), many of which are distinguished by an originality and acumen rare among Syriac writers. The trustworthy Chronicle of Edessa gives his date as 451
–452
(Hallier, No. lxvii); and the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian makes him contemporary with Nonus, who became the 31st bishop of Edessa
in 449
. He is to be distinguished from Isaac of Nineveh
, a Nestorian writer on the ascetic life who belongs to the second half of the 7th century.
As to the identity and history of the author considerable difficulty has arisen. The statements of ancient writers, Eastern and Western, were collected by Assemani
(B.O. i. 2072 14). According to these accounts Isaac flourished under Theodosius II
, and was a native either of Amid (Diyarbakir
) or of Edessa
. Several writers identify him with Isaac, the disciple of St. Ephraim, who is mentioned in the anonymous Life of that father; but according to the patriarch Bar Shushan (d. 1073), who made a collection of his homilies, his master was Ephraim's disciple Zenobius
. He is supposed to have migrated to Antioch
, and to have become abbot of one of the convents in its neighborhood. According to Zacharias Rhetor
he visited Rome
and other cities, and the chronicle of Pseudo-Dionysius of Tell-Mahr informs us that he composed poems on the secular games of 404
, and wrote on the destruction of Rome
by Alaric I
in 410. He also commemorated the destruction of Antioch by an earthquake in 459, so that he must have lived till about 460. Unfortunately these poems have perished.
When we examine the collection of homilies attributed to Isaac, a difficulty arises on two grounds.
Moreover, T. J. Lamy (S. Ephraemi hymni et sermones, iv. 361-364) and Bedjan (Homiliae S. Isaaci, i. pp. iv-ix) have called attention to statements made by Jacob of Edessa
(708) in a letter to John the Stylite. He says there were three Isaacs who wrote in Syriac two orthodox (i.e. monophysite), and one a Chalcedonian heretic (i.e. orthodox or Catholic):
With such conflicting evidence it is impossible to arrive at a certain result. But Jacob is an early witness: and on the whole it seems safe to concltide with Bedjan (p. ix) that works by at least two authors have been included in the collection attributed to Isaac of Antioch. Still the majority of the poems are the work of one hand the 5th-century monophysite who wrote the poem on the parrot. A full listi of the 191 poems existing in European MSS. is given by Bickell, who copied out 181 with a view to publishing them all:
the other 10 had been previously copied by Pius Zingerle. But the two volumes published by Bickell in his lifetime (Gießen
, 1873 and 1877) contain only 37 homilies. Bedjan's edition, of which the first volume has alone appeared (Paris, 1903) contains 67 poems, viz. 24 previously published (18 by Bickell), and 43 that are new, though their titles are all included in Bickells list.
The writer's main interest lies in the application of religion to the practical duties of life, whether in the church or in the world. He has a great command of forcible language and considerable skill in apt illustration. The zeal with which he denounces the abuses prevalent in the church of his day, and particularly in the monastic orders, is not unlike that of the Protestant reformers.
He shows acquaintance with many phases of life. He describes the corruption of judges, the prevalence of usury and avarice, the unchastity which especially characterized the upper classes, and the general hypocrisy of so-called Christians. His doctrinal discussions are apt to be diffuse; but he seldom loses sight of the bearing of doctrine on practical life. He judges with extreme severity those who argue about religion while neglecting its practice, and those who though stupid and ignorant dare to pry into mysteries which are sealed to the angels. "Not newly have we found Him, that we should search and pry into God. As He was He is: He changeth not with the times. ... Confess that He formed thee of dust: search not the mode of His being: Worship Him that He redeemed thee by His only Son: inquire not the manner of His birth."
Some of Isaac's works have an interest for the historian of the 5th century. In two poems (Bickell II, I2=Bedjan 48, 49), written probably at Edessa, he commemorates the capture of Beth-Uur, a city near Nisibis, by the Arabs. Although the historical allusions are far from clear, we gather that Beth-UUr, which in zealous paganism had been a successor to Uaran, had been in earlier days devastated by the Persians; but for the last 34 years the Persians had themselves suffered subjection. And now had come a flood of Arab invaders, sons of Hagar, who had swept away the city and carried all its inhabitants captive.
From these two poems, and from the 2nd homily on Fasting (Bickell 14=Bedjan 17) we gain a vivid picture of the miseries borne by the inhabitants of that frontier region during the wars between Persia and the Romano-Greek empire. There are also instructive references to the heathen practices and the worship of pagan deities (such as Baalti, Uzzi
, Gedlath and the planet Venus) prevalent in Mesopotamia
. Two other poems (Bickell 35, 36=Bedjan 66, 67), written probably at Antioch, describe the prevalence of sorcery and the extraordinary influence possessed by Chaldeans and enchanters over women who were nominally Christians.
The date of Isaac of Nineveh is now known from the Liber fundatorum of Ish-dlnah, an 8th-century writer; see Bedjan's edition, and Chabot
, Livre de la chastete, p. 63. Assemani (B.O. i. 445) had placed him late in the 6th century, and Chabot (De S. Isaaci Ninivitae vita, &c.) in the second half of the 5th.
Lamy (op. cit. iv. 364-366) has pointed out that several of the poems are in certain MSS. attributed to Ephraim. Possibly the author of the orthodox poems was not named Isaac at all.
Assemani's list of 104 poems (B.O. i. 254-234) is completely covered by Bickell's.
The metre of all the published homilies is heptasyllabic.
Syriac literature
Syriac literature is literature written in the Syriac language, the classical Middle Aramaic language of Syriac Christianity. The majority of classical Syriac literature is of a Christian religious nature....
, is the reputed author of a large number of metrical homilies (The fullest list, by Gustav Bickell
Gustav Bickell
Gustav Bickell was a German orientalist. He was born in Kassel, and died in Vienna.His father, Johann Wilhelm Bickell, was professor of canon law at the University of Marburg, and died as minister of justice of Hesse-Kassel...
, contains 191 which are extant in MSS), many of which are distinguished by an originality and acumen rare among Syriac writers. The trustworthy Chronicle of Edessa gives his date as 451
451
Year 451 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcianus and Adelfius...
–452
452
Year 452 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Herculanus and Sporacius...
(Hallier, No. lxvii); and the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian makes him contemporary with Nonus, who became the 31st bishop of Edessa
Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa is the Greek name of an Aramaic town in northern Mesopotamia, as refounded by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...
in 449
449
Year 449 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Astyrius and Romanus...
. He is to be distinguished from Isaac of Nineveh
Isaac of Nineveh
Isaac of Nineveh also remembered as Isaac the Syrian and Isaac Syrus was a Seventh century bishop and theologian best remembered for his written work. He is also regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church...
, a Nestorian writer on the ascetic life who belongs to the second half of the 7th century.
As to the identity and history of the author considerable difficulty has arisen. The statements of ancient writers, Eastern and Western, were collected by Assemani
Assemani
Assemani is a family of Lebanese Maronites that included several notable Orientalists:* Giuseppe Simone Assemani * Stefano Evodio Assemani , nephew of Joseph Simon* Giuseppe Luigi Assemani , brother of Joseph Simon...
(B.O. i. 2072 14). According to these accounts Isaac flourished under Theodosius II
Theodosius II
Theodosius II , commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...
, and was a native either of Amid (Diyarbakir
Diyarbakir
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
) or of Edessa
Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa is the Greek name of an Aramaic town in northern Mesopotamia, as refounded by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...
. Several writers identify him with Isaac, the disciple of St. Ephraim, who is mentioned in the anonymous Life of that father; but according to the patriarch Bar Shushan (d. 1073), who made a collection of his homilies, his master was Ephraim's disciple Zenobius
Zenobius
Zenobius was a Greek sophist, who taught rhetoric at Rome during the reign of Emperor Hadrian .-Biography:He was the author of a collection of proverbs in three books, still extant in an abridged form, compiled, according to the Suda, from Didymus of Alexandria and "The Tarrhaean"...
. He is supposed to have migrated to Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
, and to have become abbot of one of the convents in its neighborhood. According to Zacharias Rhetor
Zacharias Rhetor
Zacharias of Mytilene , also known as Zacharias Scholasticus or Zacharias Rhetor, was a bishop and ecclesiastical historian....
he visited Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and other cities, and the chronicle of Pseudo-Dionysius of Tell-Mahr informs us that he composed poems on the secular games of 404
404
Year 404 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Aristaenetus...
, and wrote on the destruction of Rome
Sack of Rome (410)
The Sack of Rome occurred on August 24, 410. The city was attacked by the Visigoths, led by Alaric I. At that time, Rome was no longer the capital of the Western Roman Empire, replaced in this position initially by Mediolanum and then later Ravenna. Nevertheless, the city of Rome retained a...
by Alaric I
Alaric I
Alaric I was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire....
in 410. He also commemorated the destruction of Antioch by an earthquake in 459, so that he must have lived till about 460. Unfortunately these poems have perished.
When we examine the collection of homilies attributed to Isaac, a difficulty arises on two grounds.
- The author of some of the poems is fervently orthodox or Catholic (see especially Nos. 1-3 in Bickell's edition =62-64 in Bedjan), in other and more important homilies (such as Bickell 6, 8=Bedjan 59, 61, and especially Bedjan 60) the doctrine is monophysite, even though EutychesEutychesEutyches was a presbyter and archimandrite at Constantinople. He first came to notice in 431 at the First Council of Ephesus, for his vehement opposition to the teachings of Nestorius; his condemnation of Nestorianism as heresy precipitated his being denounced as a heretic...
and NestoriusNestoriusNestorius was Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to 22 June 431.Drawing on his studies at the School of Antioch, his teachings, which included a rejection of the long-used title of Theotokos for the Virgin Mary, brought him into conflict with other prominent churchmen of the time,...
are equally condemned. - One of the monophysite homilies, the famous poem of 2136 lines on the parrot which uttered the TrisagionTrisagionThe Trisagion , sometimes called by its opening line Agios O Theos or by the Latin Tersanctus, is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches and Catholic Churches.In those Churches which use the Byzantine Rite, the Trisagion is chanted...
in the streets of Antioch (Bickell, 8=Bedjan 61), appears to have been written at Antioch after Peter the FullerPeter the FullerPeter Fullo was Patriarch of Antioch and Non-Chalcedonian.Peter received his surname from his former trade as a fuller of cloth. Tillemont Peter Fullo ("the Fuller") was Patriarch of Antioch (471–488) and Non-Chalcedonian.Peter received his surname from his former trade as a fuller of cloth....
(patriarch 471-488) raised the dispute about the addition to the doxologyDoxologyA doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...
of the words qui crucifixus es pro nobis. It is therefore scarcely possible that the author of this homily should be the same who composed the lost poems on the secular games in 404 and on the sack of Rome.
Moreover, T. J. Lamy (S. Ephraemi hymni et sermones, iv. 361-364) and Bedjan (Homiliae S. Isaaci, i. pp. iv-ix) have called attention to statements made by Jacob of Edessa
Jacob of Edessa
Jacob of Edessa was one of the most distinguished of Syriac writers.-Life:Jacob of Edessa was born in Aindaba near Aleppo, around 640...
(708) in a letter to John the Stylite. He says there were three Isaacs who wrote in Syriac two orthodox (i.e. monophysite), and one a Chalcedonian heretic (i.e. orthodox or Catholic):
- The first, he says, a native of Amid, and pupil of S. Ephraim, visited Rome in the time of ArcadiusArcadiusArcadius was the Byzantine Emperor from 395 to his death. He was the eldest son of Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the Western Emperor Honorius...
(395-408), on his return journey suffered imprisonment at ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, and afterwards became a priest in the church of Amid. - The second was a priest of Edessa, and flourished in the reign of ZenoZeno (emperor)Zeno , originally named Tarasis, was Byzantine Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues...
(474-491). He went up to Antioch in the time of Peter the Fuller. Jacob then tells the story of the parrot (see above). - The third was also an Edessene. At first in the days of Bishop Paul (510-522) he was orthodox (monophysite): but afterwards in the time of the Chalcedonian (Catholic) bishop AsclepiusAsclepiusAsclepius is the God of Medicine and Healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia , Iaso , Aceso , Aglæa/Ægle , and Panacea...
he became Nestorian (Catholic) and wrote poems setting forth Nestorian doctrine.
With such conflicting evidence it is impossible to arrive at a certain result. But Jacob is an early witness: and on the whole it seems safe to concltide with Bedjan (p. ix) that works by at least two authors have been included in the collection attributed to Isaac of Antioch. Still the majority of the poems are the work of one hand the 5th-century monophysite who wrote the poem on the parrot. A full listi of the 191 poems existing in European MSS. is given by Bickell, who copied out 181 with a view to publishing them all:
the other 10 had been previously copied by Pius Zingerle. But the two volumes published by Bickell in his lifetime (Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
, 1873 and 1877) contain only 37 homilies. Bedjan's edition, of which the first volume has alone appeared (Paris, 1903) contains 67 poems, viz. 24 previously published (18 by Bickell), and 43 that are new, though their titles are all included in Bickells list.
The writer's main interest lies in the application of religion to the practical duties of life, whether in the church or in the world. He has a great command of forcible language and considerable skill in apt illustration. The zeal with which he denounces the abuses prevalent in the church of his day, and particularly in the monastic orders, is not unlike that of the Protestant reformers.
He shows acquaintance with many phases of life. He describes the corruption of judges, the prevalence of usury and avarice, the unchastity which especially characterized the upper classes, and the general hypocrisy of so-called Christians. His doctrinal discussions are apt to be diffuse; but he seldom loses sight of the bearing of doctrine on practical life. He judges with extreme severity those who argue about religion while neglecting its practice, and those who though stupid and ignorant dare to pry into mysteries which are sealed to the angels. "Not newly have we found Him, that we should search and pry into God. As He was He is: He changeth not with the times. ... Confess that He formed thee of dust: search not the mode of His being: Worship Him that He redeemed thee by His only Son: inquire not the manner of His birth."
Some of Isaac's works have an interest for the historian of the 5th century. In two poems (Bickell II, I2=Bedjan 48, 49), written probably at Edessa, he commemorates the capture of Beth-Uur, a city near Nisibis, by the Arabs. Although the historical allusions are far from clear, we gather that Beth-UUr, which in zealous paganism had been a successor to Uaran, had been in earlier days devastated by the Persians; but for the last 34 years the Persians had themselves suffered subjection. And now had come a flood of Arab invaders, sons of Hagar, who had swept away the city and carried all its inhabitants captive.
From these two poems, and from the 2nd homily on Fasting (Bickell 14=Bedjan 17) we gain a vivid picture of the miseries borne by the inhabitants of that frontier region during the wars between Persia and the Romano-Greek empire. There are also instructive references to the heathen practices and the worship of pagan deities (such as Baalti, Uzzi
Uzzi
Uzzi is a biblical name meaning "the Lord is my strength".People with this name:biblical:* , the son of Bukki, a descendant of Aaron * , a grandson of Issachar...
, Gedlath and the planet Venus) prevalent in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
. Two other poems (Bickell 35, 36=Bedjan 66, 67), written probably at Antioch, describe the prevalence of sorcery and the extraordinary influence possessed by Chaldeans and enchanters over women who were nominally Christians.
The date of Isaac of Nineveh is now known from the Liber fundatorum of Ish-dlnah, an 8th-century writer; see Bedjan's edition, and Chabot
Chabot
Chabot may refer to:*Chabot Space & Science Center, a public science center and planetarium in Oakland, California*Chabot College, a public community college in Hayward, CaliforniaPeople with the surname Chabot:...
, Livre de la chastete, p. 63. Assemani (B.O. i. 445) had placed him late in the 6th century, and Chabot (De S. Isaaci Ninivitae vita, &c.) in the second half of the 5th.
Lamy (op. cit. iv. 364-366) has pointed out that several of the poems are in certain MSS. attributed to Ephraim. Possibly the author of the orthodox poems was not named Isaac at all.
Assemani's list of 104 poems (B.O. i. 254-234) is completely covered by Bickell's.
The metre of all the published homilies is heptasyllabic.