ISACCO di NINIVE. - Syrian spiritual writer of the 7th century, born at Bér Qatrājē and later consecrated bishop of Nineveh by the Nestorian catholicos Giorgio I (658–80). After a few months he left the see and withdrew into solitude. Ebediesu attributes to him “seven volumes on the direction of the spirit, on the divine Mysteries, on Judgment, and on Providence” (Catalogo, 70).
I. di N. became one of the most celebrated and influential spiritual writers of the entire East, also through Arabic, Greek, and Ethiopian versions of his writings, which in the 5th century inspired Simeone il Nuovo Teologo and later influenced the Russians. In 1838 I. V. Kireevskij declared him the deepest of all philosophers. Recent studies have made it clear that I. is not in fact so original, but depends on various authors and especially on Evagrio il Pontico. Nevertheless, the influence of I., so great in the East, also extended to the West, where Latin, Italian, Spanish, etc., versions of his writings appeared.
Editions: P. Bedjan, Mar I. N. de perfectione religiosa (Parigi-Lipsia 1909); Italian trans. Collazione dell'abate Isaac e lettere del b. don Giovanni (Venezia 1500), from the Latin.