View source for Isaac the Syrian

{{Short description|Christian bishop and theologian}}
{{About|Isaac of Nineveh|the 4th century bishop of Edessa|Isaac of Antioch}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=[[Saint]]
|name=Isaac the Syrian
|birth_date= {{circa|613}}<ref name="markose"/>
|death_date= c. 700 (age c. 87)
|feast_day= January 28
|venerated_in={{ubl|[[Church of the East]],|[[Catholic Church]],<ref name="va2024" />|[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]}}
|image= Isak Sirin.jpg
|birth_place=[[Christianity in Eastern Arabia#Beth Qatraye|Beth Qatraye]],<ref name="markose"/><ref name="kurian"/><ref name="johnston"/> [[Eastern Arabia]]
|death_place=[[Nineveh]], [[Umayyad Caliphate]]
|caption=Icon of Saint Isaac the Syrian|titles=[[Bishop]], [[Hieromonk]]
|attributes=[[Turban]], [[cape]], [[scrolls]], [[writing tools]]
|patronage=
|major_shrine=[[Rabban Hormizd Monastery]]
}}

'''Isḥaq of Nineveh''' ({{Langx|syr|ܡܪܝ ܐܝܣܚܩ ܕܢܝܢܘܐ|mār isḥāq d-ninwē}}; [[Arabic language|Arabic]]: إسحاق النينوي ''Ishaq an-Naynuwī''; {{circa|613}} – c. 700), also remembered as '''Saint Isaac the Syrian''' ({{langx|grc|Ἰσαὰκ ὁ Σύρος}}),<ref>Great Synaxaristes: {{in lang|el}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/1930/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἰσαὰκ ὁ Σύρος Ἐπίσκοπος Νινευΐ].'' 28 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref><ref>''[http://oca.org/saints/lives/2013/01/28/100333-st-isaac-the-syrian-the-bishop-of-nineveh St Isaac the Syrian the Bishop of Nineveh].'' OCA - Lives of the Saints.</ref> '''Isaac of Nineveh''', '''Abba Isaac''', '''Isaac Syrus''' and '''Isaac of Qatar''',<ref>{{cite book|author-link1=Allen James Fromherz|last=Fromherz|first=Allen|title=Qatar: A Modern History|year=2012|publisher=I. B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-58901-910-2|pages=43}}</ref> was a 7th-century [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac Christian]] [[bishop]] of the [[Church of the East]], and [[theologian]] best remembered for his [[Syriac language|written]] works on Christian [[asceticism]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Ishaq-of-Nineveh|title=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage|first=Sebastian P. |last=Brock|chapter=Ishaq of Nineveh}}</ref> He is regarded as a [[saint]] in the [[Church of the East]], [[Catholic Church|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==
He was born in the region of [[Christianity in Eastern Arabia#Beth Qatraye|Beth Qatraye]] in [[Eastern Arabia]], a mixed Syriac- and Arabic-speaking region encompassing the south east of [[Mesopotamia]] and the north-eastern [[Arabian Peninsula]].<ref name="markose">{{cite book|last=Markose|first=Biji|title=Prayers and Fasts According to Bar Ebroyo (AD 1225/6-1286): A Study on the Prayers and Fasts of the Oriental Churches|year=2004|publisher=LIT Verlag|isbn=9783825867959|pages=32}}</ref><ref name="kurian">{{cite book|last=Kurian|first=George|title=The Encyclopedia of Christian Literature, Volume 2|year=2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0810869875|pages=385}}</ref><ref name="johnston">{{cite book|last=Johnston|first=William M.|title=Encyclopedia of Monasticism: A-L|year=2000|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=1579580904|pages=665}}</ref> When the [[Catholicos]] [[Giwargis I (Church of the East)|Giwargis I]] of the [[Church of the East]] (661–680), visited Beth Qatraye in 676 to attend a [[synod]], he [[ordain]]ed Isaac bishop of [[Nineveh]] far to the north in [[Assyria]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kozah|first1=Mario|last2=Abu-Husayn|first2=Abdulrahim|last3=Al-Murikhi|first3=Saif Shaheen|last4=Al-Thani|first4=Haya|title=The Syriac Writers of Qatar in the Seventh Century|publisher=Gorgias Press LLC|year=2014|page=263|edition=print|isbn=978-1463203559}}</ref>

The administrative duties did not suit his retiring and [[ascetic]] bent: he requested to abdicate after only five months, and went south to the wilderness of Mount Matout, a refuge for [[anchorite]]s. There he lived in solitude for many years, eating only three loaves a week with some uncooked vegetables, a detail that never failed to astonish his [[hagiography|hagiographers]]. Eventually blindness and old age forced him to retire to the Assyrian monastery of Rabban Shabur in [[Mesopotamia]], where he died and was buried. At the time of his death he was nearly blind, a fact that some attribute to his devotion to study.

==Legacy==
{{Eastern Orthodox sidebar}}
Isaac is remembered for his spiritual [[homilies]] on the inner life, which have a human breadth and [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendent]] [[theological]] depth.<ref name=va>{{cite web|url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2024-01/st-isaac-the-syrian-feast-day-sebastian-brock-syriac.html|title= St Isaac the Syrian: Desert hermit whose voice resonates across centuries |first=Joseph |last=Tulloch|work=Vatican News |date=28 January 2024| access-date = 11 November 2024}}</ref> They survive in [[Syriac language|Syriac]] manuscripts and in later Greek, Arabic, and Georgian translations.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brock|first1=Sebastian|editor1-last=Patrich|editor1-first=Joseph|title=The Sabaite Heritage in the Orthodox Church from the Fifth Century to the Present|date=2001|publisher=Peeters|location=Louvain|isbn=9042909765|pages=201–208|chapter=Syriac into Greek at Mar Saba: The Translation of St. Isaac the Syrian}}</ref> From Greek they were translated into [[Slavic languages|Slavonic]].<ref name=WDL1>{{cite web|title=Commentary on Song of Songs; Letter on the Soul; Letter on Ascesis and the Monastic Life|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4168/|publisher=[[World Digital Library]]|access-date=7 March 2013}}</ref>

Isaac stands in the tradition of the eastern [[mystical]] [[saint]]s and placed a considerable emphasis on the work of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]].

His melancholic style as well as his affinity towards the sick and dying exerted considerable influence on [[Eastern Orthodoxy]].<ref name=va/> His writings were continuously studied by monastery circles outside his church during the 8th and 9th centuries. Moreover, Isaac's conviction that the notion of God punishing men endlessly through the mystery of [[Gehenna]] (the lake of fire, or hell) is not compatible with his all-encompassing love can likely be seen as the central thematic conflict in his second treatise of [[mystical]] teachings.<ref>Brock, S., trans. (1997). ''The Wisdom of Saint Isaac the Syrian''. pp. 5-9. Fairacres Oxford, England: SLG Press, Convent of the Incarnation. {{ISSN|0307-1405}}.</ref>

Isaac's writings, strongly influenced by those of [[Evagrius Ponticus]] and other earlier Christian writers,<ref>{{cite journal | last=Bitton-Ashkelony | first=Brouria | title=The Limit of the Mind (NOΥΣ): Pure Prayer according to Evagrius Ponticus and Isaac of Nineveh | journal=Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity | volume=15 | issue=2 | date=2011 | issn=1612-961X | doi=10.1515/zac.2011.15}}</ref> offer a rare example of a large corpus of ascetical texts written by an experienced hermit and is thus an important writer when it comes to understanding early [[Christian asceticism]].<ref>Hagman, Patrick (2010). ''The Asceticism of Isaac of Nineveh''. Oxford University Press.</ref>

Isaac the Syrian's main influences include [[Evagrius Ponticus]], [[Pseudo-Dionysius]], [[John the Solitary]], [[Ephrem the Syrian]], [[Narsai]], and [[Theodore of Mopsuestia]]. In turn, Isaac has influenced later Syriac writers such as [[John of Dalyatha]] and [[Joseph Hazzaya]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Scully |first=Jason |title=Isaac of Nineveh's Ascetical Eschatology |publisher=Oxford University Press |publication-place=Oxford |date=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-880358-4}}</ref>

==Veneration==
{{Expand section|date=November 2024}}
He has long been regarded as a [[saint]] in the [[Eastern Orthodox]], and [[Church of the East]] traditions.<ref name=Fisher>{{cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/23673262|author=David A Fisher|title=Isaac of Nineveh and Syriac Thought}}</ref> 

For the Catholic Church, [[Pope Francis]] announced on 9 November 2024 that Isaac of Nineveh is being added to the [[Roman Martyrology]], the official list of saints venerated by the [[Latin Church]].<ref name=va2024>{{cite press release | access-date = 11 November 2024 | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2024/11/09/241109a.html | publisher = Holy See Press Office | title = 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 | date = 9 November 2024 }}</ref>

Isaac's [[feast day]] falls, together with 4th-century theologian and hymnographer St. [[Ephrem the Syrian]], on January 28.

==Writings==

=== Overview ===
Isaac composed dozens of homilies that he collected into seven volumes on topics including spiritual life, divine mysteries, judgements, providence, and more. These seven volumes have survived in five ''Parts'', titled from the ''First Part'' to the ''Fifth Part''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stadel |first=Seth M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KRZEEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA146 |title=The Catalogue of Books of 'Abdisho' Bar Brikha: Translated with an Introduction and Notes |date=2025 |publisher=Brill |pages=145–146, n. 167|isbn=978-90-04-72637-6 }}</ref> Except the ''First Part'', which had been long known, the other ''Parts'' were rediscovered only in 1983 and later. Today, only the first three parts are considered genuinely by Isaac.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Brock |first=Sebastian |title=The Prayers of Saint Isaac of Nineveh: Translated with an Introduction by Sebastian Brock |date=2024 |publisher=SLG Press |pages=59–61}}</ref>

[[Sebastian Brock]] has provided a summary as of 2024 of all editions and translations of each of these three parts.<ref name=":0" /> Brock, Mary Hansbury and the Holy Transfiguration Monastery have been the primary translators into English, and {{ill|Sabino Chialà|it}} into Italian.

===First Part===
The ''[[The Ascetical Homilies of Isaac the Syrian|First Part]]'' is the most widely known part. {{ill|Arent Jan Wensinck|nl}} (1923) translated the text into English and published it as ''Mystic Treatises''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wensinck |first=A. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NsGIbwAACAAJ |title=Mystic Treatises by Isaac of Nineveh |date=November 2011|publisher=Gorgias Press |isbn=978-1-61719-502-0 |language=en}}</ref> A critical edition containing an English translation, ''[[The Ascetical Homilies of Isaac the Syrian]]'', was published by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in 1983,<ref>''The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian.'' Holy Transfiguration Monastery. 1984. {{ISBN|9780913026557}}.</ref> while a revised second edition was published in 2011 (with a third printing in 2020).<ref>{{Cite book |author-last=Holy Transfiguration Monastery |title=The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian |publisher=Holy Transfiguration Monastery Publications |year=2020 |isbn=9780943405162 |edition=Revised 2nd |location=Brookline, Massachusetts}}</ref> According to Brock (2006), Part 1 has 82 homilies, although the number and order of homilies can vary greatly depending on the manuscript or edition.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brock |first=Sebastian P. |title=The Wisdom of St. Isaac of Nineveh |publisher=Gorgias Press |publication-place=Piscataway |date=2006 |isbn=1-59333-335-8 |page=viii}}</ref>

===Second Part===
The ''Second Part'' contains 41 chapters, of which Chapter 3 is by far the longest. Chapter 3, also known as the ''Kephalaia Gnostica'' (or "Chapters/Headings on Spiritual Knowledge"), contains 400 sections organized into 4 centuries (groups of 100 sections).<ref name="Brock 2022"/> Recently, parts of the ''Kephalaia Gnostica'' (i.e., Chapter 3 of ''the Second Part'') have been identified in [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] fragments from [[Turfan]].<ref>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)</ref><ref>Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2017). ''An Ascetic Miscellany: The Christian Sogdian Manuscript E28''. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 19-43.</ref>

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.<ref name="Brock 1995"/> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bodleian Library MS. Syriac e. 7 |website=Digital Bodleian |url=https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/9ac2c301-7518-4552-b234-7d17744b54d5/ |access-date=2024-08-18}}</ref>

After 1983, incomplete manuscripts of Part 2 have been discovered in [[Cambridge]] MS Or. 1144, which is a part of [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|Bibliothèque Nationale de France]], MS syr. 298 (c. 11th-13th century).<ref>Kessel, Grigory (2013). New Manuscript Witnesses to the ‘Second Part’ of Isaac of Nineveh. Studia Patristica LXIV, 245-257. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> Chapters 1–3 have been translated into English by Brock (2022)<ref name="Brock 2022">{{Cite book |translator-last=Brock |translator-first=Sebastian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AyPrzgEACAAJ |title=Headings on Spiritual Knowledge: the Second Part, Chapters 1-3 |date=2022 |publisher=St Vladimir's Seminary Press |isbn=978-0-88141-702-9}}</ref> (with Chapters 1–2 previously published in Brock (1997) as well<ref>Brock, Sebastian P. (1997). "St Isaac the Syrian, Two Unpublished Texts." ''Sobornost/Eastern Christian Review'' 19 (1997): 7-33.</ref>), while an English translation of chapters 4–41, along with the original Syriac text, can be found in Brock (1995).<ref name="Brock 1995">Brock, Sebastian (translator). 1995. ''Isaac of Nineveh (Isaac the Syrian): The Second Part, Chapters 4{{Endash}}41''. {{ISBN|9789068317091}}.</ref> A complete French translation was published by [[André Louf]] (2003),<ref>Louf, André. (2003). ''Œuvres spirituelles, II. 41 Discours récemment découverts''. Spiritualité Orientale 81. Bégrolles-en-Mauges: Abbaye de Bellefontaine.</ref> and a partial Greek translation was published by Kavvadas (2006).<ref>Kavvadas, Nestor (trans.). (2005-6). ''Isaak tou Syrou: Asketika''. Tomos B1: 1-3; B2: 3-11; B3: 12-41. Thēra: Thesbitēs.</ref> Selections from Part 2 have been translated into Italian by Bettiolo (1985)<ref>Bettiolo, Paolo (trans.). ''Isacco di Ninive. Discorsi spirituali e altri opuscoli''. Magnano: Qiqajon, 1985; 2nd edition, 1990. [Chapters 1-5, 32, 35, and 39]</ref> and into Catalan by Nin (2005).<ref>Nin, Manel (2005). ''Isaac de Ninive, Centuries sobre el coneixement''. Barcelona: Proa. [Chapters 1-5]</ref>

List of manuscripts containing the ''Second Part'':<ref name="Brock 1995"/>
*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 Collection|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===
The ''Third Part'' has been translated into English by Mary T. Hansbury (2016),<ref name="Part 3 Hansbury 2016">{{cite book |last=Hansbury |first=Mary T. |title=Isaac the Syrian's Spiritual Works |publisher=Gorgias Press |publication-place=Piscataway, N.J. |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-4632-0593-5}}</ref> into French by [[André Louf]] (2009),<ref>Louf, André (2009). ''Œuvres spirituelles, III: D’après un manuscrit récemment découvert''. Spiritualité orientale 88. Bégrolles-en-Mauges: Abbaye de Bellefontaine.</ref> and into Italian by Sabino Chialà (2004, 2011).<ref>Chialà, Sabino (trans.) (2004). ''Isacco di Ninive: Discorsi ascetici: terza collezione''. Magnano: Comunità di Bose.</ref><ref>Chialà, Sabino (ed.) (2011a). ''Isacco di Ninive: Terza Collezione''. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 637; Scriptores Syri 246. Leuven: Peeters.</ref><ref>Chialà, Sabino (trans.) (2011b). ''Isacco di Ninive: Terza Collezione''. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 638; Scriptores Syri 247. Leuven: Peeters.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mayes |first=Andrew D. |title=Diving for Pearls |publisher=Liturgical Press |publication-place=Collegeville, Minnesota |date=2021-07-20 |isbn=978-0-87907-563-7}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Part 3 Hansbury 2016"/>

===Fifth Part===
Portions of the ''Fifth Part''<ref>Chialà, Sabino (2013). "Due discorsi ritrovati della Quinta parte di Isacco di Ninive?" ''Orientalia Christiana Periodica'' 79, 61–112.</ref> 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.<ref name="Part 3 Hansbury 2016"/> Other discourses from Part 5 can be found in Hansbury (2015).<ref>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.</ref>

==Views on universal reconciliation==
Some scholars<ref>Wacław Hryniewicz (2007), Ilaria Ramelli (2013), et al.</ref>{{fcn|date=December 2024}} have argued that Isaac's views from the ''Second Part'' appear to confirm earlier claims that Isaac advocated for [[universal reconciliation]].<ref>Wacław Hryniewicz ''The challenge of our hope: Christian faith in dialogue'' 2007 The 7th-century mystic, Isaac the Syrian, known also as Isaac of Nineveh is, in the history of the Church, one of the most courageous supporters of the eschatological hope of universal salvation.</ref> 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."<ref>''The Second Part'', 39.6 (Tr. Brock, p. 165)</ref> Likewise, in the Third Part, chapter 5, 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."<ref>Isaac, ''The Third Part'', 5. Translated from Syriac by Mary T. Hansbury, ''Isaac the Syrian's Spiritual Works'', 84.</ref>

In Isaac's ''First Part'' (his well-known [[The Ascetical Homilies of Isaac the Syrian|Ascetical Homilies]]) also, some have seen evidence for universalist sympathies, as illustrated by the following: "God will not abandon anyone."<ref>''The First Part'', Ch. 5.</ref> "There was a time when sin did not exist, and there will be a time when it will not exist."<ref>''The First Part'', Ch. 26.</ref> "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."<ref>''The First Part'', Ch. 50.</ref> Other passages throughout the corpus of Isaac's writings have been cited in demonstration of his belief in eventual universal salvation.<ref>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.</ref>

== Translations ==
{{Empty section|date=May 2025}}

==See also==
*''[[The Ascetical Homilies of Isaac the Syrian]]''
*[[Anthony the Great]]
*[[Apocatastasis]]
*[[Arab Christians]]
*[[Asceticism#Christianity|Asceticism]]
*[[Christian Universalism]]
*[[Church Fathers]]
*[[Church of the East]]
*[[Dadisho Qatraya]]
*[[East Syriac Rite]]
*[[Ephrem the Syrian]]
*[[John Climacus|John of the Ladder]]
*[[Monastic silence]]
*''[[Philokalia]]''
*[[Syriac Christianity]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Beulay, Robert. ''La Lumière sans forme: Introduction à l'étude de la mystique chrétienne syro-orientale''. Chevetogne: Éditions de Chevetogne, 1987. {{in lang|fr}}
*Chiala, Sabino. ''Dall’ascesi eremitica alia Misericordta infinita: Ricerche su Isacco di Ninive e la sua fortuna''. Firenze: Olschki, 2002. {{in lang|it}} [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 lang|de}}
*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 lang|fr}}
*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, New Jersey|Piscataway]], NJ: [[Gorgias Press]], 2018.

==External links==
{{commons category|Isaac of Nineveh|Isaac the Syrian}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{wikisourcelang|el|Ισαάκ Σύρος|Ἰσαὰκ Σύρος}}
* {{Librivox author |id=16074}}
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100333 St Isaac of Nineveh] Orthodox Icon and Synaxarion
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160310233854/http://www.isaacthesyrian.com/ A collection of resources on St. Isaac]
*{{CathEncy|wstitle=Isaac of Nineveh}}
*[https://archive.org/details/IsaacOfNinevehMysticTreatises Online edition of the Ascetical Homilies]
*[https://www.facebook.com/stisaacofnineveh/ Saint Isaac of Nineveh Facebook Page, featuring new translations from Syriac and Arabic]
*[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-of-Nineveh Encyclopædia Britannica's article on Isaac of Nineveh]
*[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-of-Nineveh Encyclopædia Britannica's article on Isaac of Nineveh]

{{Syriac Christianity}}
{{Portalbar|Saints}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac the Syrian}}
[[Category:Syrian Christian saints]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:7th-century Syrian bishops]]
[[Category:7th-century Christian mystics]]
[[Category:7th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:7th-century bishops of the Church of the East]]
[[Category:Christian universalist clergy]]
[[Category:Christian universalist theologians]]
[[Category:Mesopotamian saints]]
[[Category:Patristic mystics]]
[[Category:Syriac writers]]
[[Category:Syrian Christian mystics]]
[[Category:Nineveh]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox saints]]