GIACOMO di EDESSA. - Celebrated Monophysite writer (c. 640–708), the most distinguished representative of Christian Hellenism in the Syriac language, comparable to s. Girolamo, and perhaps even more versatile than he. He distinguished himself by his translations and by the revision of other, older translations. He was also an eminent theologian, philosopher, historian, exegete, and grammarian.
G. was born c. 640 near Antiochia, studied at the convent of Qennebrè and then at Alessandria. Around 685 he was consecrated bishop of Edessa and worked in that capacity for the reform of the Church and the convents; but, encountering serious difficulties there,
he withdrew after only four years of governance. He then became a professor at the convent of Eusebona near Antiochia, where he taught Greek and Sacred Scripture. After eleven years he moved to the nearby convent of Teleda, where he was professor for another nine years. For a brief period, only four months, he again assumed the direction of his diocese of Edessa. He died on 5 June 708 at the convent of Teleda.
G. is the author of commentaries on various books of the Old Testament and undertook in 705 a revision of its text. As a liturgist, he concerned himself with the revision of liturgical texts. As a canonist, he compiled a celebrated collection of canons. He wrote a chronicle listing events down to 692, but unfortunately only fragments of it have been preserved. The principal fruit of his activity as a translator is a Syriac version of the Greek Severo di Antiochia (v.).